Torn Apart Yet Stuck to You
by Mewlon
Summary: Reposted. After freeing himself, Siegfried tries to purify Soul Edge. However, being marked as Nightmare makes him an outcast. Fate has a way with him when a girl decides to follow him, soon other SC characters begin to follow him. Siegfried centric.
1. Chapter 1

_All thanks to playing SC3, I got very obsessed with it. I finally am going to write SC stories, which I've always wanted to do since SC2. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this story. I don't want to make it long or anything like that._

_I don't own anything Soul Calibur wise except for my original characters. _

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter One: Nightmare and the Annoying One**

A lovely wind breeze touched the evergreen leaves that hung upon the tree branches. A lone figure walked through the forest carrying a rather large sword. His long blonde hair danced along with the wind as his armored feet took him through the forest. His body was covered with a long brown coat to hide his silver armor he wore.

As he took another step, his sparkling blue eyes trailed back to his right arm. He knew what used to be there and still wondered how it all happened. For four years he lingered not as himself, but as an entity. The scar upon his right eye reminded him of what had happened before. As he closed his cerulean eyes, all the memories he had came back to him.

Even though his will could not control his body, he did see the countless of people that were slaughtered during the reign of Nightmare. The screams of horror and pain still echoed in his mind. He could still feel the fire ate the dozen of villages he walked through. He flinched a bit as he remembered it all. The man could still remember the one last battle that saved him.

_Back at Ostrheinburg chapel, there stood the once invincible Nightmare. A rather large and grotesque looking claw replaced what used to be a human arm. His entire body had been deformed and was covered by the dark armor. The only thing one could see of this entity was the pair of glowing yellow eyes. Nightmare held a large sword in his claw. The sword had a large bulging eye and from that eye grew a web of veins that entangled the blade._

_Nightmare looked out from the broken window and viewed a lone figure approaching the chapel. Nightmare let out a smirk and waited for this opponent to arrive. A man with short blonde hair had approached Nightmare. His dark red shirt and long brown pants looked quite stylish that one could guess that this man was a nobleman. The nobleman took out his rapier and proclaimed to fight Nightmare._

_Both men engaged in a fierce battle. However, Nightmare has much of an advantage as he was stronger and with the Soul Edge, he was able to overpower the nobleman. Just as he was about to finish him off, a strong feeling returned to Nightmare. The soul of Siegfried was able to overpower Nightmare's will and regained his body. The nobleman known as Raphael managed to help Siegfried as he took down Nightmare. _

_The holy blade known as Soul Calibur had appeared before both men. Siegfried took a hold of the sword and slammed it down Soul Edge to destroy it. During that time, his beast form was demolished and soon reverted back to his human form. Ever since that incident, Siegfried took the now merged Soul Edge and Soul Calibur along with his cursed armor in hopes to purify them._

It had been months since that incident. Even though Siegfried was now himself, he wasn't exactly one to be close with. Men from all over the country would search for him to cross swords. Each one of them claimed to want to kill him for killing a loved one. Siegfried would defeat them and ask for their forgiveness. However, no one would actually forgive him.

"Nightmare!" shouted a voice from behind Siegfried.

Siegfried stood silent as he slowly opened his eyes.

"I came here to avenge my brother! You killed him in cold blood two years ago!"

Siegfried slowly turned around to see a young man. His short brown hair barely covered his head. Upon his right eye was a bandage. He took out a sword that hung from the sheath around his waist. He took a fighter's stand and glared at Siegfried with much hatred. His right hand was covered in a bandage as well, but Siegfried could tell that his arm was burnt.

"Prepare to die, Nightmare!" shouted the man as he rushed over towards Siegfried.

"I don't wish to fight you, but if you insist," replied Siegfried as he grasped his sword.

The man swung his sword at Siegfried's head. Siegfried used the Requiem to block the sword then stepped back a bit. Siegfried swung his blade at the man. The sword slashed right towards the man's chest. The blade managed to cut a bit of the man's skin, causing him to bleed. The opponent fell back a bit before he regained his strength.

The man began to swing wildly at the German warrior. Each stroke hit a part of Siegfried's armor and sword. The sword cut part of his brown coat. Siegfried swung his blade once more and this time it connected with the man. The blade cut at the assaulter's leg, causing him to fall down to the ground. Blood flowed from that cut and down to the ground, coating it with its color.

"I'm sorry," apologized Siegfried.

"Monster!" shouted the man. "Ugh! My leg! You tried to kill me, didn't you?"

"No…I wouldn't do that!"

"Do you wish for me to join my brother? God rest his soul while he's in heaven and away from a beast like you!"

"Did you see that?" asked a voice hidden in the shadows of the trees.

"He tried to kill Mark," replied a woman, "he's a monster!"

Just then a group of people who were hidden amongst the trees had appeared. All of them had carried weapons and were now ready to fight. A young woman rushed over to Mark's side and took a good look at his wound. Her eyes winced at sight of the wound. She then shifted her eyes over to Siegfried's figure. Her glare pierced right through the warrior and stabbed his heart like an ice cold dagger.

"Monster!" she shouted. "First you take away my husband, and then you try to take away my brother-in-law. Do you wish to take my son as well? You took away his brother!"

Siegfried frowned at them. No matter how much he did apologize, they only saw him as Nightmare the monster. The blonde warrior then turned away from then and began to walk down the path he was heading towards. He could hear them shouting out to him, telling him to come back and fight them, but he had no desire to do so.

Siegfried finally got out of the forest and walked through a field. His eyes caught the glimpse of a small village. His will manage to lift up a bit before he walked over towards the small village. Once he managed to walk in he looked over at the people. There was the fish market man cutting up a fish. As he finished cutting another fish, he looked over at Siegfried.

"Would you be interested in some fish?" asked the fish market man.

"Not at the moment, though later I shall buy some," replied Siegfried. "How much are they?"

"I'd say about fifteen gold out to do it."

"Then I shall bring you fifteen gold. Can you direct me where the inn is?"

"Sure thing, you just go down this path and head over to the library. Once you reach there, take a left turn and walk down that path. The inn will be located on your right side."

"Thank you, sir."

"No problem there, stranger."

Siegfried bowed his head then left. The fish market man then continued his work. Soon thereafter, a rather lean looking man walked by. He looked over at Siegfried then over to his sword. Just then, his eyes widen as they landed upon the enormous sword. He dropped the pipe that he had in his mouth. The fish market man looked over at his companion.

"Yo, Ichilo," said the fish market man, "what's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"No," replied Ichilo, "more like I've seen a demon. Don't you know who that man was?"

"No…should I?"

"That man wields a large sword…he may look different right now, but it is said that demons take different shapes. That man…he's Nightmare. He's the man that murdered your wife, Gustaf."

"What!" shouted Gustaf as he stopped working. "Are you sure that, that man is Nightmare."

"I'm sure of it…didn't he have a scar on his right eye?"

"Yes…but I thought it was because he might have been a mercenary."

"No…he got that scar by fighting some villager I heard. He killed the man in cold blood."

"I can't believe it," let out Gustaf, "Nightmare was here and yet he showed me the kindness of an angel. The demon that killed my poor wife spoke with me as if nothing happened."

Just then the whispers from the people began to spread, like wild fire through a dry plain. Talk about the legendary Nightmare rose up and caused quite a commotion to the people. Everyone knew each other since the village is small, so spotting who they were talking about wasn't hard. News hadn't arrived yet to the inn, which was fortunate for Siegfried.

The blonde warrior walked inside of the tiny inn and asked for a room. The old woman that ran the inn smiled at him warmly and told him if he needed anything, just for him to ask. Siegfried thanked her kindness, but knew that it will end shortly once she found out about his past. He walked up a couple of steps before he got to the second floor of the inn.

The quiet little building had a pleasant feeling for the German warrior. It was hard to find tranquility since war was constant in this land. Siegfried opened the door to his room and walked in. Much to his surprise, the place was quite neat and tidy. One tiny little bed stood onto the side of the wall and next to the tiny window of the room. A small table stood near the beside which held a lamp.

Siegfried let out a sigh before he sat down on the bed. He took off his armor, leaving him only in his pair of dark green pants and green shirt with brown boots. He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He didn't know how long it had been before he had time to just relax. Slowly he closed his dark sapphire eyes and began to sleep.

He woke up a few hours later. No dreams came to him, though he preferred it that way. Siegfried looked over and saw a shadow hidden in the darkness of his room. He knew and this was probably an assassin. He closed one eye and hid his open eye within his blonde bangs. He pretended to still be asleep. The figure began to walk towards Siegfried. Armed with an axe, the figure sent it down on Siegfried.

Just then, the blonde warrior took out a small dagger and parried the axe. Siegfried got up on his feet and kicked the assassin. He lit the lamp and saw it to be the fish market man. Siegfried stood in horror then frowned at the man. He could tell by his eyes that he was hurt by something. _He probably lost a loved one, _he thought.

"Listen," said Siegfried, "whatever it was that I did when I was Nightmare, I apologize. I didn't mean to hurt or kill anyone. It was the power of…"

"I really don't care what it was," said Ichilo, "the point is you killed my darling wife. I just want to know from you…why did you do it? What could have that sweet woman do to you to make you want to kill her?"

"I…I really don't know. Soul Edge wanted souls…and my body gave out…"

"Listen…I'm going to say this to you once and only once, get out of this village. You are not welcome and you're a danger to us all."

"I'll leave in the morning if that is what will make you all happy."

"Good."

And without another word Gustaf left Siegfried's room and headed back to his home. Siegfried let out a sigh as he knew the kindness was too good to be true. His ears perked up as he started to hear the old woman begin to yell out things hysterically. _Most likely she heard that Nightmare was here, _he thought. _Maybe I should just leave now. _Siegfried got off his bed and began to put on his armor.

His stomach growled rather loudly. He gave off a somewhat disturbed look. _Perhaps I should eat something, _thought the blonde, _but perhaps it is best if I get out of this town. I doubt they would serve me any food, even if I do pay them triple the amount. _Just as Siegfried was about to finish putting on the armor on his legs, he heard a scream.

Quickly the blonde warrior rushed to the door and opened it. He saw men draped in capes and such begin to threaten the old woman. One of the men hit the old woman's neck, rendering her unconscious while the other men began to rob the place. Siegfried let out a growl before he jumped from the second floor and landed on the first. He held out his sword and glared at the intruders.

"It's Nightmare!" shouted one of the men.

"Crap…I didn't think he'd be in this inn," said another man.

"Drop everything you have or be prepare to defend yourself," spoke Siegfried as he pointed at them.

"So sorry there, but we really have to go. Besides you have other things to worry about."

Two of the intruders had bottles of wine and other alcohol in their hand. They threw the liquor onto the floor then threw torches upon the liquid. The entire place lit on fire. The intruders got out from the inn just as the fires started. Siegfried snarled as he quickly lifted the unconscious woman and out to safety. The fires managed to singe some of his blonde hair, but he didn't mind.

Siegfried then lowered the old woman down on the grass and sighed. He could hear the screaming of the other people that were trapped in the inn. As he was about to react, a couple of villagers carrying torches and pitchforks approached Siegfried. The blonde warrior knew that this wasn't going to end well. One of the villagers walked over to him.

"You…" he sneered, "you did this, didn't you!"

"You're gravely mistaken," replied Siegfried, "I didn't do this."

"You were planning on finishing off the inn keeper, Nightmare! We all know this!"

"Listen, you can accuse me all you want, but there are people trapped in that inn. I'm going to go get them out."

"No," replied the villager as he stuck out his arm. "You will not do that. You will leave this village now and never return! Leave now, Nightmare!"

Siegfried felt a bit hurt but didn't show it. He bowed his head then began to walk quietly out of the village. He could hear their cries and yells s they tried their best to put out the fires and save the people. Siegfried took one last look behind him before he walked out into the forest. Once again he was marked as Nightmare instead of Siegfried.

Morning arose soon. Siegfried had been walking for the past four hours. His stomach growled a bit. He stopped walking and took off his armor. Taking a small dagger, Siegfried began to whittle a stick he found on the ground. Once he made it into a mini spear, he crawled into the bushes and waited for any upcoming animal. A tiny rabbit hopped its way over to a patch of berries that were on the ground.

Taking that moment, Siegfried slowly rose from the bush and threw the stick at the rabbit. The sharp tip pierced the rabbit's side. The rabbit let out a screech as it struggled to take the stick out from its side. The German warrior walked towards the rabbit and put it out of its misery. Siegfried took the rabbit's carcass and began to skin him using the small dagger he carried.

Once the rabbit was skinned, he placed the fur into a small pouch he carried then began to look for some firewood. When he found enough twigs and leaves, Siegfried began to make a small fire when he found two pieces of flint. The spark caught on and soon a small fire was started. Siegfried began to roast the rabbit peacefully.

The soft rabbit meat began to cook into a golden brown color. The soft smell of the meat was pleasant to the warrior's nose. Once the meat was crispier, he took a bite into the soft meat. As he was about to take another bite, a dagger flew passed his left cheek. Siegfried looked around him to see where the dagger came from.

"Fu, fu, fu, fu," a voice chuckled, "I found you now, Nightmare!"

"Who's there?" asked Siegfried.

"Heh, heh, heh, wouldn't you like to know? Since I'm feeling generous I'll give you a proper introduction!"

Just then several small bombs dropped from the ground. The bombs annoyed Siegfried and thought that whoever this was was probably more bark then bite. Another dagger hit the ground and pierced its blade into the ground. Just then a figure jumped for treetop to treetop in a stylish manner. The figure dropped to the ground and landed near the dagger.

The silhouette revealed that it was just a girl with medium black hair that was tied together into a ponytail. A rogue part of her bangs covered her right eye. Her clothing was a torn sleeveless blue shirt that was held together by a black belt. Her dark blue pants were held together by a pair of brown boots. A muffler covered part of her face and hung over like a scarf. She took up her dagger and took up a fighting stance.

"Nightmare," said the girl, "you're going down. You reign of terror will end as of today, as I, Lara Watts, will be your end!"

"You've got to be kidding me," replied Siegfried as he stood baffled by this girl's entrance.

"I kid you not! Just because I look young doesn't mean that I don't lack the maturity of an adult. I came here to fight you and kill you using my great stealth and element of surprise."

"You know if you are going to use stealth and the element of surprise, shouldn't you have not did that atrocious entrance and not announce yourself like a nuisance."

"Ulg…" replied Lara as she soon had reality hit her. "Crap…he's right…"

"If you're done, will you leave me alone so I can eat in peace? I rather not have my day ruined by someone trying to try to kill me."

"What! I'm being serious here! I'll be your end and then I'll take your head back to my hometown so I can show the entire world!"

Siegfried stood baffled by this girl's yells. He didn't know what was worse having people actually be serious about fighting him or having crazy kids come up trying to be serious about fighting him. The German warrior didn't know if he should laugh at this or ignore it. So instead, he went back to his meal and began to eat it.

"Hey!" shouted Lara. "Don't be ignoring me! I'm dead serious! I may be a girl, but I can sure whip your butt! I dare you to fight me…or maybe you're too scared to fight your destiny. Ha! I knew you'd be too scared to fight me!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" asked Siegfried as he took another bite from his meal.

"What! You're really rude, do you know that! I'm a woman and probably of higher status then you! How dare you not show respect for the one that will kill you."

Siegfried now knew that he wasn't going to have a quiet meal if he stayed there any longer. He stuck the stick where the rabbit was on the ground and began to put on his armor. Lara saw what he was doing and smirked. _Ha! He finally acknowledged me, _thought Lara, _so he's finally going to fight me. Heh, what awaits him he will not have a single idea. _

_I have myself a couple more of my bombs…well…not that much. Thanks to that intro I wasted about 9/10ths of in inventory which means that I only have two bombs left now. Crap…I wonder if that will be enough for Nightmare? Well I'm going to have to throw one of the bombs at his crouch while the other one will go to his face. Then I will take that advantage and finish him off. Ha, ha, ha! It's perfect!_ Siegfried finally finished dressing in his armor; he took up his rabbit, strapped on his sword, and then began to leave. Meanwhile, Lara just waited until her right time to turn around and fight him. She then twirled her dagger as she turned around.

"All right, Nightmare, I…" Lara stopped in mid sentence when she saw that she was now alone. "Where the hell did he go!"

A raven that stood perched on one of the branches flew off as the scream that Lara emitted for her body echoed horribly. Meanwhile, Siegfried continued his journey down the forest. He ate while he walked since he feared that the tranquility that he had now would be interrupted by that crazy girl. He shook his head as he thought of her being serious.

He stopped as he took a seat down on a log. A raven perched on a tree branch nearby Siegfried. The German warrior looked at the raven then turned his attention back to the ground. He closed his eyes as he tried to relax. He moved his head out of the way as a dagger zipped through the air and landed on a tree. Siegfried let out a sigh.

"I knew I shouldn't have stopped," he spoke softly.

"Nightmare!" shouted Lara. "How dare you run away from me!"

"You obvious don't have anything better to do."

"Listen here and listen well, I left my hometown for one sole purpose only: to avenge my father! You killed him four years ago and drove my mother into a depression! Because of that, she had to work very hard to sustain the remaining members of our family!"

"Listen; forgive me for what I have done years ago, but that was…"

"I don't care nor would I forgive you. You hurt so many back in my hometown and I promised that I will bring back your head to the village. Now fight me!"

"I don't want to fight you," replied Siegfried, "I could accidentally kill you and then I will soil my hands with the blood of an innocent child. Listen, I will ask you once more please go home and leave me be. I don't want to kill you."

"No! If you run away I will follow you until the ends of the Earth!"

"Don't be stupid."

"Ready or not, here I come at you!"

"Foolish girl!"

Lara took out her dagger and ran towards Siegfried. Siegfried took out his sword and placed it in front of him. He waited for his chance to parry. Just as Lara was about to reach him, a twig stood before her. Her foot got stuck on it and she tripped down on the ground. That round ended with the young thief having her face on the ground. Siegfried's eye twitched as he saw what happened.

"Ow," whined Lara as she slowly got up and sat right up. "That hurt!"

"Clumsy much, are you?" asked Siegfried.

"Ugh! You probably put that there so I can trip! I know you're type! You're sneaky and you want to defeat me! Well guess what? I have a destiny to fulfill and that's to kill you!"

Lara got up once more and ran at Siegfried. She then began to swing her dagger at him. Siegfried merely moved out of the way. He only moved his sword to block her meager attacks. Lara took a hold of Siegfried's arm then flipped herself onto his other side. She then used her weight to lift the warrior and flip him over. Siegfried caught the ground and landed on his feet.

_Damn! _Thought Lara. _He's good…too good. He's not even fighting me with all his entire power. I have to unleash my bombs!_ Lara sent out a punch to Siegfried's face. Siegfried just used his hand to block her fist. Lara just then used her weight to lift herself and send out a kick to his face. Siegfried dropped his sword then grabbed her leg.

"Heh," giggled the raven haired girl, "I gotcha!"

"What?" let out Siegfried.

Using her spare arm, Lara placed her hand inside of her shirt and took out a bomb. She smirked as she bit into the fuse and ripped it out. Two small pieces of flint that were wedged right before the actual bomb ignited a spark. She then pressed the bomb over to Siegfried's stomach. The bomb exploded while she had still grabbed onto it. Both fighters were sent flying in opposite directions. Lara rolled on the ground. Her left hand was now bleeding lightly from the explosion.

"Crap…" she hissed, "the bombs didn't have enough gun powder to make a bigger explosion. All this was was just a big firework."

Siegfried's stomach stung a bit from the explosion. _Not a lethal explosion, _he thought, _but certainly one that hurts. _He growled as he slowly got up from the ground. His green shirt was cut open. The blood stopped flowing since the fire from the explosion managed to burn the wounds. The warrior lifted his sword and rushed over at the girl.

Lara's dark blue eyes widen as she saw Siegfried run over to her. She tried to get up, but her arm stung with such pain. As she tried to crawl away, she saw Siegfried was now inches away from her. Lara placed her arms right in front of her and shook with fear. Just then Siegfried swung his sword then smacked Lara's bottom with it with a loud smack sound. Lara quickly got up and began to scream.

"Ahh!" she shouted as she tried to massage her now hurt rump. "That hurt! What was the meaning of that! Are you some kind of a pervert that gets off at smacking women?"

"No….that was a warning hit," said Siegfried as he stood stoic. "It meant I want you to go home and stop following me if you don't want to get hurt. If that smack hurt you as much as you're making a big fuss about it, then there is no way you can actually fight me."

"Ow! But you didn't have to hit a poor innocent girl! That was beyond cruel! As for fighting you, take a good look on your stomach. I managed to hurt you. That's more then anyone else has done."

"Oh please…I've fought against way strong warriors then you. Even some of the idiots that actually challenge me managed to do worse then you."

"Fine!" shouted Lara as she took out her last bomb. "This one is going to your pretty face! A make over might do you good to rearrange that face to a monstrous one like the one you deserve!"

Lara threw the bomb directly at Siegfried's face. Siegfried stood his ground then took out the Requiem. He swung his sword which hit the bomb. The bomb then flew back towards the thief. Lara let out a yell before the bomb hit her body. Parts of her clothing ripped. Cuts and bruises now appeared all over her body. She fell on the ground in a terrible pain.

"Damn," hissed Lara as she laid on the ground, "defeated by the one I wanted to kill. This is so shameful."

"Foolish girl," said Siegfried, "now you know that you're nowhere near strong enough to defeat me. Just go home, child."

"Grr…as soon as I feel better I'll go after you!"

"I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"Why are you apologizing!"

"I didn't mean harm to you."

Lara stood silent as Siegfried then began to walk out from the forest. Lara slowly lifted herself up to her knees. She spat out a bit of blood before she looked at her hand. She took out a pair of gloves and some bandages. She began to mend her arms then placed the gloves on her hands. _I so should have worn these before I did those bomb techniques, _she thought, _still…I have to go after him. There is no way I'll let him get away so easily. Hmm…wasn't there a saying that goes 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer'? Either way, I'm not going to let him get away so easily!_

Lara soon got up from the leafy ground and began to slowly follow Siegfried. The raven that was perched upon the branch view the entire thing. It soon flew off deep into the forest. Just then a gloved hand stretched out. The raven landed upon the arm and crowed a bit. The woman holding onto the bird had short green hair tied together in strange buns. Her face was covered in overly done make up. Using a strange source of power, the woman saw everything through the raven's eyes.

"So…" she said, "I can't believe that he exists. After being once combined with Soul Edge, that man's soul shouldn't be. Somehow he was strong enough to break through Nightmare's will and regain his body. Very soon I shall soon find out the limit of his power as I cut him down to pieces. You, follow him and that annoying brat as well. She isn't worth my time, but just to see her cut down into ribbons gives me the shivers."

The raven then took off through the air and began to fly towards their direction. The woman smirked as she moved her extremely large iron ring. Her deep and darkest desires have yet to unfold as she kept her eyes on the man who used to weild Soul Edge.

**End Chapter**

_Yay! I finished this chapter. I didn't want to make it too long nor too short. So far this was just the beginning. I don't want to make this story too long but not too short either. _


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all for your reviews! Those that I have reviewed I've replied to you and all. Thanks for looking up my fic and taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it a lot! Now to reward you, here's the next chapter! Oh, by the way, if you ask me a question in regarding this story, please make sure to sign in or to give me your email if you're anonymous. It's hard to answer your questions when you don't give me anything to contact you with._

_Oh, one more thing, I managed to draw a couple of things for this story on my Deviant art page. You can check them out on my profile. See you all later!_

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Two: Reflections**

Siegfried closed his eyes and allowed the wind to brush against his skin. He felt now a bit relaxed since it had been about two days since he had an encounter with anybody. He smiled as he finally felt nothing but relaxation. He preferred it this way. Still, he couldn't help but shake off a feeling that he was being watched. For some reason the forest he had been walking through always had at least one raven nearby.

Sitting on a branch nearby was none other than Lara. She poked her head from the leafy branch her and spied on Siegfried. Ever since their encounter, she had been following him close by, watching his every movement. She's seen when he's hunting, sleeping, just walking. However, yesterday the girl got lost for four hours. She had overslept and had to run through the forest following his footsteps before the wind blew leaves to cover the tracks.

Once she finally caught up to him, she let out a sigh of relief. Siegfried had managed to hear it and turned around slowly. Lara quickly hid behind the tree and stood still. She waited for a while before she heard faint feet shoveling. Now she was spying on the next movement the German warrior was going to do. _We'll see what you're going to do next, Nightmare, _she thought. _When you drop your guard I will attack._

Meanwhile, Siegfried's blue eyes caught what seemed to be a small pond hidden behind some thickets. He smiled as he longed for a bath. He took off his sword from his back then took off his armor. Lara saw him take off his armor and smiled at her opportunity. _Yes! _She thought. _This is totally going my way. When he finishes taking off his armor, I'm going to take him down. _

Once he finished taking off his armor, Siegfried took off his shirt. Lara then jumped from her perch, but her boot had gotten stuck on the branch. Lara tangled in the air and tried to free herself from the branch. Her foot then slipped from her boot and she fell on the ground. The young girl snarled as she got up from the ground. The boot then fell on her head.

"Damn!" she hissed softly as she got her boot and put it on. "I need to find better boots. Great…I lost Siegfried, but since he took off his armor, he has to be nearby."

The raven haired girl then rushed over to the dropped armor and smiled deviously as she saw strands of blond hair hiding behind the thicket. She took up her dagger and readied herself. She then jumped through the thicket and ran over towards Siegfried. Siegfried suddenly jerked his head to see the girl come at him.

"I finally got you, Nightmare!" she shouted.

"What…?" Siegfried let out as he got out from small pond and took up his sword. "You want to fight me now?"

Just then Lara stopped running and looked at Siegfried. She didn't notice until now that he had been completely naked. Her blue eyes slowly trailed down until they met with Siegfried's other sword. Being that she had no idea of what a man's private looked like, she was totally shocked. She felt her blood rise and her legs wobble.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Siegfried.

"Ahh!" she screamed as she covered her eyes. "I'm blinded! I just saw the snake! Are you some kind of pervert! How could you flash a girl something like that!"

"You're the one that wanted to fight me while I was bathing! If you wanted to kill me, you should be able to withstand seeing something like this."

"I…I'm just an innocent girl! How dare you ruin my purity!"

"Let me guess…you were saving your innocence for your wedding night then I ruined it."

"Ugh! How dare you mock me! Clearly I have to kill you another time when you guard is down and not bathing! Beware for I will be watching!"

Lara then turned around and began to run. Her face was still buried in her hands. She then rushed over to a tree and banged herself against it. Lara tumbled down and fell upon her back. She opened her eyes and saw the same image she didn't wanted to see. She let out a scream as she ran out screaming loudly, leaving a rather stumped Siegfried behind.

"You better watch out and be careful when you sleep!" shouted the girl.

Lara hissed as she soon ran through the forest and hid behind a tree. She didn't know how to stop thinking. When her mind trailed back to the image of the naked Siegfried, she scowled as she blushed furiously. A small tickle of blood fell from her nose and dropped down to her lips. She looked over at what was happening and let out a scream.

"He used some sort of a curse to make me bleed internally!" she screeched loudly enough to scare again the raven that was close by.

Meanwhile, back at the little pond, Siegfried let out a small sigh. He went back into the water and tried to finish bathing in piece. He hoped that no one would be that stupid enough to walk in while he was bathing. Luckily for him, no one did. Once he finished, he got out from the pond and dressed in his green shirt and pants. He moved his hair over to one side and began to twist his locks to release the water from his hair.

The rest of the day stood uneventful, which made Siegfried happy. He rather be alone then have that crazy girl after him. He snarled when he thought that she actually would follow him to the ends of the Earth. He let out a shiver then began to make a small fire. The warmth of the flames caressed his soft skin. Hunger soon arose as his stomach let out a growl.

Siegfried then began to search for any sort of food. It took him about an hour, but the German warrior came back with some quails, rabbits, and a boar. Siegfried was quite happy with his hunt. He was sure to have enough to last him for about a week. He began to skin the animals and impale their carcasses on sticks. He aligned the sticks around the fire and began to cook them.

The smell of the meat cooking diffused through the air and eventually it fell upon a sensitive nose. Lara's stomach let out a growl as she smelled the food. _Ugh! _She thought. _He just had to start cooking! I haven't eaten anything in two days. That food he has is so tempting. I'd give anything to eat it! _She looked over to where Siegfried was. Her mouth watered as she saw the delicious looking rabbit.

Her stomach growled even more as she tried to think up of a way to steal the food and eat happily. An idea struck her. Nearby the thief was a rock. She picked up the rock and aimed the rock towards Siegfried's right. She then threw it with all her might. The rock then landed with a large thud. Siegfried got up from where he was sitting and began to walk over to the where the sound came from. He took the Requiem with him and prepared for any type battle.

Meanwhile, Lara smiled in victory. She quickly sprinted over to the meat and picked up a roasted rabbit. She took in one sniff of the meat and smiled happily. Tonight she was sure to dine very well indeed. She took one bite of the meat and chewed it as fast as she cute. The meat was burning her tongue, but she didn't care. She wanted food. Just as she was about to take another bite, something hit her on the head hard.

"Ow!" she let out as she used one hand to massage her head.

"What do you think you're doing, thief?" asked Siegfried as he stood above her.

"I…um…well…"

"Don't you know," said Siegfried as he kneeled next to her, "that you shouldn't take away anything from me?"

"Well I have to eat!"

"Why don't you hunt then?" Siegfried's expression turned into a soft glare. One that looked like a father would give to a child. To Lara, he looked like a lion who was about to pounce and eat her alive.

"Don't look at me that way!" shouted Lara as she turned her head away from him.

"Look at you how?"

"That look you have! You're scaring me!"

"Then," said the German warrior. He grabbed Lara's wrist that held the roasted rabbit. "Give me what belongs to me."

"But I'm hungry!" whined Lara.

"I told you to go hunting and get your own food."

"But…I….can't hunt."

Siegfried stood shocked. He looked down at the girl who was squirming from underneath his grasp. _Is this child serious? _He thought. _She came all this way to fight me yet she can't even take care of herself? Is she that stupid or that ignorant? _Siegfried glared at her hard as if he were trying to analyze her. Lara felt herself stiffen as she saw into those deep blue eyes. Something about them really scared her yet something made them look a bit sad.

"Will you stop looking at me like that!" she shouted as she looked away from Siegfried.

"Looking at you like what?" asked the German warrior.

"That look! It looks like you're going to jump on me and eat me or something!"

"Listen…I warned you once to go home and stop following me. I suggest you take it into consideration. Following me isn't going to do you any good at all. You can't fight or anything."

"Well, you can warn me all you like, but I'm not going to go home. I'm going to follow you."

"Look," spoke Siegfried as he let out a sigh. "I all ready apologized to you about your father. I can understand that you don't want my apology, but that doesn't mean you can stay here. Either way, whoever is waiting for you at home is probably worried about you."

"I…" let out Lara as she looked down. "I'm not too sure about that…"

Siegfried released his hold on the ground then looked away.

"I see," he said, "so I killed everyone."

"No!" let out Lara. "You didn't kill everyone. My mother is still alive and all…it's just that I left about two months ago. I really don't know if they know I'm alive. I didn't keep in contact with them."

"So you came here on your own account? Why?"

"It's a long story…."

Just then a small growl came out from Lara's stomach. The thief let out a blush as she covered her stomach with her arms. Siegfried looked at the girl and took pity on her. _She's probably just some confused girl, _he thought. He then got the rabbit that was on the stick and presented it to the girl. Lara looked at the rabbit a bit confused.

"It's obvious that you're hungry," responded Siegfried, "take it and eat it."

"Why are you feeding me?" asked the girl. "I want to kill you and all."

"Just because I find you annoying, doesn't mean I'll ignore that you need help. Now eat the rabbit before I change my mind."

"Thank you…"

"You're welcome…"

Lara took the rabbit from Siegfried's hands and began to eat it vigilantly. Siegfried ripped a leg from the boar he had been cooking and began to eat. Both warriors eat in silence. Neither of them knew what to say nor did they want to say anything to anyone. Once they had their fill on food, Siegfried took out his dagger and began to cut the meat from the animals he killed. The placed the leftovers inside of a sack and closed it tightly.

The fires from the small campfire manage to keep both of them warm. Siegfried looked up at the sky and viewed the stars through the tree branches. Lara looked at him then looked up at the sky. An hour or so had passed and soon Siegfried lowered himself on the ground and went to sleep. Lara looked at his sleeping body. She slowly then crawled over to Siegfried's sleeping figure.

_When he's asleep, _she thought, _he looks like some sort of an angel. However, I know that behind that face is the face of a demon. _Lara squinted her eyes as through her mind she could hear the screaming. The fires that surrounded her home touched her skin. She placed her hand upon the hilt of her dagger and pulled it out from its sheath.

"May you burn in hell, Nightmare," she hissed.

Lara lifted her dagger up in the air. The screams of her nightmares only intensified as she brought the dagger down. She then stopped right above Siegfried's neck. Her hand shook a bit as tears began to form in her eyes. _Why can't I kill him? _She thought as tears fell down her cheeks. She slowly removed the dagger from Siegfried's neck and crawled away from him.

Her stomach felt queasy. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks. She had never killed anyone before and now she felt very afraid. She didn't know if she should or shouldn't. She then shivered a bit before she lowered herself on the ground. She closed her ocean colored eyes then tried to go to sleep. The raven perched itself on one of the branches and observed them throughout the entire night.

"_Siegfried," spoke a gentle voice, "Siegfried, it's time to wake up, dear."_

_Siegfried slowly cracked open one sapphire eye. He looked over at a silhouette that was hidden in the shadow. A soft hand landed upon his forehead and brushed away a couple of rouge blonde hair. Siegfried slowly got up from where he was sleeping. The German warrior looked down and saw that he was on a soft bed. The white sheets were soft against his skin. _

"_You've been sleeping in lately," spoke the silhouette. "You better hurry up; your father is waiting for you to help him work on the farm."_

"_Wait," yawned Siegfried as he rubbed his eyes._

_The blonde warrior placed a hand through his hair. His eyes widen when he noticed that his hair was no longer that long mane, but instead his short boy locks. He looked over to the silhouette before him. Suddenly the vision came clear and it was evident it was a woman. Her long blonde hair was tied together into a loose bun. Her lovely green eyes sparkled with tender love and care. She then stretched out and hugged Siegfried. Her light blue dress was as soft as rabbit fur. Siegfried remembered this woman and let out a soft smile._

"_Heh, heh," giggled the woman, "are you awake yet?"_

"_Yeah, I'm ready to go now, Mother," replied Siegfried._

"_Now, don't strain yourself too much like you did last time. If you feel tired, make sure to take a break."_

"_Mother, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine," replied Siegfried as he smiled._

"_Okay then," replied Margaret as she kissed her son on his forehead. "Be careful, son."_

_Margaret released her son and then walked out from his room. Siegfried got out of bed and walked over to his closet. He took out a loose white shirt and put it on. He took out a pair of brown pants then put them on followed by putting on his leather boots. Close by where his closet was, was a mirror. Siegfried looked at the mirror and saw his youthful face. He placed a hand upon his right eye._

"_There is no scar," he said as he smiled and walked out from his room._

_Siegfried walked towards the common room of his tiny wooden house. A bear rug was on the floor next to the fireplace. The dining table was settled on the opposite side of where the small kitchen was. Inside of the kitchen was Margaret cooking. The sweet smell of what was to be lunch filled in the nostrils of the young German warrior. He opened the front door and walked out from the house._

_Outside the clear blue sky covered the world. The sun burned brightly in the sky. Their little house had been isolated by farmland. A horse stood nearby the door. It let out a soft snort as Siegfried walked outside. Siegfried pet the horse's nose then walked off through the land. A couple of birds flew by and began to chirp happily. _

_Out in the field was a rather tall blonde man. Upon his hard face were bristles for hair. His light blue eyes were hidden within his dark eyelids. His clothing was a white shirt hold down with overalls and a pair of brown pants. His long brown boots were covered in mud. He wiped away the sweat from his brow then smiled at Siegfried._

"_Good to finally see you awake," said the man as Siegfried approached him. "I thought you were going to sleep in."_

"_Sorry about that, Father," replied Siegfried as he placed a hand behind his head. "I…I was having a nightmare."_

"_Oh? Pray tell."_

"_Well…in my nightmare, I had grown up and all. My hair was long and I had a long scar along my right eye. Yet I remember that I held this giant sword in my hands. Soon a huge claw grew out from my right arm and I kept hearing this voice inside my head telling me to kill. I saw you….and I killed you. All I did was laugh at the events that took place as I killed countless of people. It was horrible….everyone called me Nightmare."_

"_Son," spoke Frederick as he placed a hand upon Siegfried's shoulder. "You need to relax. It was all a dream and nothing more. Everyone has nightmares once in a while; you just need to calm down."_

"_Yeah, you're right, Father."_

"_Good, now let's finish the work so we can eat."_

"_All right!"_

_Throughout the entire day, Siegfried and Frederick had been working hard on their farm. Siegfried pulled out a couple of weeds from the ground then he began to cultivate the soil. The tomatoes were ripe and ready to be picked. Every crop the Schtauffen family had been raising had been ripen and rich. Siegfried smiled as he lifted the rather large basket filled with vegetables and began to make his way towards the house. _

"_Achtung! Achtung!" shouted a man with a bell. _

_Siegfried stopped and turned around to see the man._

"_News from the outside!" shouted the man. "The wicked pirate, Cervantes, is roaming around causing chaos. Rumor has it that he carries the legendary sword!"_

"_Wicked…pirate?" asked Siegfried to no one in particular._

"_Siegfried!" called out Frederick. "Come on, inside, son. Dinner is almost ready."_

"_Coming, father!"_

_Siegfried walked inside of the house and placed the basket near his mother in the kitchen. _

"_Siegfried," said his mother, "what did I tell you about your boots?"_

"_Huh?" let out Siegfried as he looked at his rather muddy boots. "Ah! I'm sorry, Mother!"_

_Siegfried quickly took off his boots and ran over to the front door. He opened it and placed his boots outside near the door entrance. He quickly rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a hold of a cloth, and began to wipe off the mud. Once he was finished he placed the cloth over to the cleaning closet near by. He walked over to the table and was about to sit down._

"_Siegfried, wash your hands," said his mother with a playful grin on her face._

_Siegfried let out a frown. His mother let out a playful smirk on her face. Siegfried nodded his head then headed off towards the wash room. He began to wash his hands as well as his face. He was surprised how much dirt and filth he had. He let out a soft smile before he walked out from the washroom and headed towards the table. The Schtauffen family began to eat their meal in peace. Margaret looked at her son and placed her hand in his hair._

"_Your hair is growing," she said. "I'll have to cut it soon."_

"_Thanks, Mother," replied Siegfried, "but you don't have to cut it."_

"_Perhaps not…maybe you would look so handsome with long hair."_

"_Mother! Don't embarrass me."_

"_Oh, come on! You have to look handsome to get yourself a nice girlfriend. One that can take care of you and all."_

_Siegfried just looked away blushing at the comment. _

"_Anyway," spoke Siegfried, "I heard that there has been some pirate running around causing mayhem and all. I decided that I am going to stop him. He has the sword of legend with him."_

"_Siegfried," spoke Frederick, "you can't be serious."_

"_But I am! Father, let me go. You have taught me how to fight and all. I know that I can at least help out with what's happening."_

"_Siegfried, why on Earth would you want to go?" asked his mother._

"_Because people right now are dying and they need help! I can offer that help, just let me go!"_

"_I can't let my only son go off and get himself killed! Frederick, tell him not to go!"_

_Frederick looked hard at Siegfried. He let out a small sigh as he closed his eyes to think about this. _

"_If I let you go, promise me that you'll return in one piece?" asked Frederick._

"_Of course!" exclaimed Siegfried. "I won't let you down, Father!"_

"_Frederick!" shouted Margaret. "How can you let him go!"_

"_The boy's old enough to make his own decisions," replied Frederick, "he should go. Perhaps he is the one that can defeat Cervantes and bring peace to the world."_

_Once their meal was finished, Margaret began to wash the dishes. She had stood silent after what was said. Meanwhile, Siegfried had been outside. He viewed the starry sky. The cool breeze brushed against him and he let out a soft sigh. He wasn't sure that he would ever see a sky so peacefully again. He walked back towards his home and opened the door._

Light touched Siegfried's eyelids. He opened his blue eyes to see the light morning sky. He slowly rose up from the ground below him and yawned. He placed a hand through his long blonde mane and stopped. He placed his right index finger along his eye and traced the scar. _Still there, _he thought. _It was all a dream. _He let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes.

The fire had given out, leaving only ashes inside of the little rock circle. He looked over to his left and saw the sleeping figure of Lara. The thief girl had curled into a ball. Siegfried let out another sigh as he leaned over to her. He softly shook Lara, in which she didn't respond. He shook her a bit firmly, hoping to wake her up.

"Not now, Mom," she said in her sleep, "five more minutes. The cows can wait."

"Wake up," Siegfried whispered.

"Mmm…"

"Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich das tue."

Siegfried then crawled over to the girl and began to shake her even more. Lara just rolled over to where her back was to Siegfried. The German warrior shook his head then rolled Lara on her back. He then began to shake her again. Soon, Lara slowly opened her eyes. At first she looked at Siegfried then closed her eyes. One second later, she cracked open her eyes. She let out a scream as she slapped Siegfried.

"Pervert!" She shouted as she crawled away from underneath Siegfried. "I thought you were a nice guy, but now I know you wanted me to drop my guard so you can have your way with me! What did you do to me!"

"I did nothing!" shouted Siegfried. "I tried to wake you up!"

"Don't shout!"

"You're shouting too!"

Just then the raven let out a screech then flew off. Lara looked at the bird and began to feel freaked out. _That bird has been following us ever since we met, _she thought. _It's very creepy. _Siegfried then looked at the raven and glared. He slowly got up and put on his armor. He lifted the Requiem and placed it on his back. He looked at Lara.

"If you're going to follow me, you better work with my pace," said Siegfried. "I'm going to let you follow until we go into the next town. From there, you will not follow me anymore, but instead find a mode of transportation to go back home. Do you understand?"

"You're trying to get rid of me!" let out Lara.

"Yes! I'm not joking when I said that if you stay with me, there will be danger. If you haven't noticed we are being followed."

"Followed? By who?"

"That is what I'd like to find out. Either way, you will stop following me once I lead you into the next town."

"You really think I'm stupid," said Lara as she glared as Siegfried. "Do you think I'm playing a game with you? I'm not leaving you, until I fulfill what I came here for. Until then, I'll just tag along."

"I can't ever win with you," asked Siegfried, "can I?"

"Nope! I'm stubborn and once I set myself to do something, I'm not leaving until I can avenge my father. You think I'm nothing more then a stupid girl! Well, you're wrong! I'm more than that! There's more to me than meets the eye!"

"Then…you should take in consideration about others that way."

"What?" Lara's face softened at him.

"We should go now. Keep up, or I'm leaving you behind."

Siegfried began to walk down the small path down the forest. Lara soon followed him and both began to walk together. The raven kept flying at a distance where they wouldn't notice its presence. Hidden behind one of the trees was the silhouette of the green haired woman. She let out a smirk as she kept a rather large distance away from Siegfried.

It had been about four hours into the walking. Lara's feet began to really hurt now. She squinted and glared at Siegfried as he just walked as if he never lost any energy. _How can he have so much energy? _She thought. _Damn him! My feet feel like they're about to fall off and leave me behind. _Lara continued to walk then she tripped over a fallen branch. She glared at the branch as she massaged her knee.

"Stupid thing!" she snarled.

Just then something caught her eyes. She leaned over and saw something hidden behind a bush. There laying curled up into a ball was a baby chipmunk. Upon seeing the chipmunk, Lara's eyes beamed. To her, it was beyond adorable. Next to the baby chipmunk were the dead bodies of two bigger chipmunks. _These must be his parents, _she thought. She picked up the chipmunk. The rodent shivered a bit as he felt Lara's gloved hands. Its fur was rather cold and damp.

"Oh, your poor thing," she said.

"Hey, kid," called out Siegfried. "Will you hurry up?"

"I found a baby chipmunk! The poor thing is all cold and such. His parents are dead and he's all alone."

"Don't pick that up. Listen; there are things that happened in life. That rodent looks like he's about to die."

"No!" shouted Lara as she got up. "I'm not letting his baby die! I'm going to take care of him and all!"

"If you can't take care of yourself, what makes you think you can take care of another living thing?"

"Oh! You're so mean! Of course I can take care of him!"

"Leave the rodent behind, you'll only kill him."

"I'm not leaving him!"

Siegfried just placed a hand to his forehead then let out a snarl.

"Fine! Keep him!" shouted Siegfried. "Just make sure to feed him!"

"Yay!" chirped Lara as she snuggled the chipmunk. "You know, I'll have to give you a name. How about Mr. Squeakers?"

The little chipmunk looked up at Lara as if it understood. It let out a small squeak. Lara smiled widely as she placed the chipmunk inside of her shirt. Siegfried just stood by and looked at her with a shocked expression. He couldn't believe what was happening, and the name of the chipmunk just made the man question more about this girl.

"Mr. Squeakers?" questioned Siegfried as he raised one blond eyebrow.

"What! It's a cute name for a cute chipmunk!" replied Lara.

"Whatever…"

"Oh, you're just grumpy!"

Both fighters then walked out through the forest and ended up through a clear field. Siegfried could barely make out what seemed to be a small village at the distance. He let out a small smile before he continued to walk. It taken them about an hour to finally arrive at the village, but they were relieved to do so. Siegfried looked up at the sign which read Old Toledo.

"Well, we're at the town," he said. "This is where…"

"We look for something to eat," replied Lara. "I'm hungry and I'm tired. We should go look for an inn."

"Don't change the subject."

"Well, we should first get to an inn then. I'm not in the mood to talk to you about this."

Siegfried just rolled his eyes as he began to look for an inn. Lara followed him like a lost puppy to a child. Eventually Siegfried found a small inn in the middle of town. Both fighters went inside and asked for a room. Once they had gotten a room and walked in, Siegfried took off his armor and rested on one of the beds. Lara let out a sigh as she fell on the other bed.

"Well then, Nightmare," said Lara, "now we can talk."

"First off," said Siegfried, "I prefer not to be called Nightmare. Nightmare…was something I'm not anymore."

"What happened? Changed name to run away from your enemies? Forget that, I found you and everyone else knows who you are!"

"That's not it!" barked Siegfried as he glared at Lara.

Lara stopped her joking. She felt a bit threaten.

"I'm sorry…for yelling," said Siegfried. "I…have been aggravated in such ways. Listen, would you want to hear the truth about this entire incident?"

"Yes…" replied Lara.

Siegfried closed his eyes and placed his elbows on his knees.

"A long time ago, there was once a magnificent sword," said the German warrior, "a man by the name of Cervantes wielded it which turned into two blades. One day, a woman by the name of Sophitia destroyed one of the swords which shattered into dozens of shards. Meanwhile, the other sword was still in Cervantes' hand. It wasn't until three years later when I fought against him, that he lost the sword.

"I was young back then and I wanted the sword. Once I placed my hands on it, I became infected. My body soon lost control as it was being possessed. You see, the sword, Soul Edge, has a mind of its own. The spirit of the sword possessed my body and soon I was Nightmare. For four years I couldn't control my body. Nightmare killed in order to satisfy the sword's hunger for souls. All I could do is watch. Because of all that, I ended up killing my own father.

"So you see everything I did as Nightmare, I couldn't prevent. I am haunted by my own guilt as I try to wash the blood from my hands. Once again, you don't have to forgive me, but I apologize for your father's death. I carry with me, Soul Edge, but it's neutralized because I used the only sword that can defeat Soul Edge: Soul Calibur. I am on a mission, to purify Soul Edge once and for all, so that no other man can suffer and use this sword for their own greed.

"Not only am I hunted down by people that hate Nightmare, but I'm hunted down by others that want Soul Edge. They are even worse then those with avengement. That is why I will ask you again, just go home."

"I know I should go home," said Lara, "but I all ready promised my father when he died that I would avenge him."

"I understand what you feel, but it isn't…"

"What do you know? My father was a man that believed I can be more then some petty farm girl! I was different then all the other girls…because I wear boy's clothing. I prefer it that way because when I was little I wanted to be a boy. My mother would scowl at me because I wanted to be a boy. My father then told me that I should be myself. I guess it's because my father always wanted a boy, but instead he had a daughter.

"He said to me that he would buy me a sword so I can practice fencing. He never did buy me that sword. However he said to me, that if I ever wanted to get married, it should be with a knight. I told him that it better be a knight that will travel and fight consecutively. My knight in shining armor will come and fight along side me. The day that he got killed was a day I wouldn't forget. I was about twelve when you attacked my home. It was a very bleak day for us, because none of us were fighters. We were a peaceful village yet we lost more than half of the people."

"The man sounds almost like my father," said Siegfried.

"You don't…have to apologize," replied Lara. "If what you are saying is true…then I guess you're innocent. I miss my father…however; I'm not going to leave you."

"What?"

"You said you're going to purify Soul Edge, and I want to come too. I want to purify Soul Edge because Soul Edge was what made you Nightmare and Nightmare killed my father."

"I'm not going to allow it. You're going to die!"

"No I'm not!" shouted Lara as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to die! I can protect myself…a little. Please, mister, let me go with you. I promise I won't be much of a burden. Pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry and tons of jelly rolls and…"

"Okay, okay!" replied the German warrior. "It's not like anything I say to you will change your mind. You've quite stubborn and that is the thing that might get you killed. All right…I'll let you come, under one condition: if you get hurt, you will go home. I will not be held responsible for your death, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, mister! By the way…I don't even know your real name and you said not to call you Nightmare anymore."

"It's Siegfried Schtauffen."

"Siegfried….Schtauffen?" giggled Lara. "That is such a strange name. I never heard that one before."

"It's German, all right?"

"Amazing…you're the first German man I've met. I come from England myself and close to Ireland. So German men look like you."

"I'm not going to reply to that….anyway, think you can shut up for a long time? I want to go to sleep."

"Aww, but I want to talk more!" pouted Lara.

"There are plenty of other people out there, go talk to them. Just shut up and let me sleep."

And with that Siegfried rolled on his bed and turned his back to the thief. Lara glared at him and stuck her tongue at him. _You're no fun, _she thought. Lara got up from her bed and walked out from the room to let Siegfried rest. As Lara began to walk through the inn, her eyes caught the figure of a young woman with short blonde hair. Her clothing was a blue short dressed with dark colored tights. Upon her back were a sword and a shield with strange markings on it.

"Hi!" chirped Lara.

"Hi," replied the blonde woman.

"I'm new here and I want to know more about this town and all."

"Well, I would like to show you around, but I'm on duty. I'm a guard here at this inn."

"Aww, then I guess I'll wait until you get off duty. You looked rather lonely."

"Aren't you a brash one? Well, I guess I can use the company."

"Yay! My name is Lara Watts, what's your name?"

"My name is Cassandra Alexandra; it's a pleasure to meet you."

The two girls began to walk happily while talking to each other. They had been unaware of the events that were bound to happen soon.

**End Chapter**

_Yay! I finished this chapter. I didn't want to make it too long nor too short. So far this was just the beginning. I don't want to make this story too long but not too short either. _

_BTW…_

_Achtung Attention_

_Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich das tue I can't believe I'm doing this_

_Just a bit of German phrases that you guys might wanted to know. Why did I put in German? Siegfried's German, so it would be natural that he would speak it._


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you all for your reviews! Those that I have reviewed I've replied to you and all. Thanks for looking up my fic and taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it a lot! _

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Three: In the Flames**

"_Hey, newcomer, aren't you coming?" asked a thief as he spit on the ground close to him._

"_Yeah…I'm coming," replied a blond knight._

"_Listen, the boss told us about a strange and unusual fortress going on towards the lands over yonder. I'm going to loot the treasure rooms the others are to attack the pesky knights. Think you can handle the commander?"_

_The blond warrior looked over at the sky._

"_I believe I can," he replied._

"_Good, because I heard from the boss that you're the strongest recruit he ever got," said the thief. "I don't blame him either. You do look like a strong guy. What's your name, I never did get it?"_

"_It's Siegfried."_

"_Siegfried, huh? Weren't you some sort of a knight?"_

"_Well," replied Siegfried, "I suppose you might say I was once a knight."_

"_Why'd you leave?" asked the thief as he placed a dagger onto his sheath that was around his waist. "Was the pay bad? I doubt you'd retire, you're just still a pup of nineteen."_

"_I left for other reasons that I won't say."_

"_Well then, Sieggie, I suppose you are to go on ahead. I'll follow you once you get the commander's attention. Wouldn't want him to go after me, now would you?"_

"_I suppose not…"_

_Siegfried picked up the Faust, put on his helmet, and rushed over towards the fortress' entrance. Some of his men were fighting off the rookie knights at the entrance. Once Siegfried reached the entrance, he used the Faust to knock over the knights. He rushed through the building and tried to look for the so called commander._

_Shouts of fighting all echoed throughout the fortress. Fire began to eat away at the fortress' walls. The knights were shocked and began to panic. Others began to attack the thieves, trying to kill them. As the fighting went on, a rather heavily armed knight appeared. He wore a large crimson colored cape. His entire body was covered from head to toe with armor. Knowing from his appearance, Siegfried could tell that this man was the commander._

_Siegfried stopped right in front of him. He lifted the Faust right in front of him and showed the commander that he wanted to fight. The commander took one look at Siegfried as he pulled out a rather large ax from his back. He twirled it a bit before he swung at Siegfried. Siegfried parried it with the Faust then swung right at him._

_The commander moved out of the way and began to fight once more. He swung the giant ax at Siegfried and managed to dent his helmet. The dented steel managed to cut the skin on his right eye. Blood leaked from the helmet and trickled down his skin. The blond warrior glared at the commander and swung at him. The Faust managed to hurt the commander's stomach. As they continued their fight, both men were equally matched. Sparks flew as both their weapons hit each other's blades._

_The commander swung his ax, aiming for Siegfried's head. Siegfried moved out of the way then crawled underneath the commander. In one swift motion, Siegfried swung his sword and cut off the commander's head clear off his shoulders. Siegfried smiled in victory as he managed to do this part. Just as he was about to leave, the head rolled out from the helmet. _

_The figure looked somewhat familiar to the German warrior as he walked over to the head. Moving the helmet out of the way, Siegfried managed to take a hold of the head. He used one hand to take off his own helmet so he can take a better look at it. The head had blond hair and blue eyes that were much like his hair and eyes. Siegfried suddenly dropped the head as his eyes widen._

"_Father…" he murmured from his pale lips._

_A suddenly large burden fell on his chest. Siegfried couldn't believe what he was seeing right in front of him. _Father, _he thought as tears began to well up in his eyes. _Father…I….I'm sorry. _Siegfried's entire body began to tremble as he fell on his knees. His stomach began to churn violently as his guilt rose up. Soon, he just lost it and threw up. _

"_Father…" he let out. "This can't be real…this is some sort of a nightmare! I…I killed him…I killed him? I did this….did I do this? No…it was someone else…there's another person in my body…"_

"_Hey, Sieggie!" shouted the thief as he walked over to the broken Siegfried. "We have to go now. You did a great job on killing the commander." The thief placed a hand upon Siegfried's shoulder. Upon doing so, the German warrior responded by taking a hold of the thief's arm and twisting it around._

"_Don't touch me!" shouted Siegfried._

"_Sieg! You're hurting me! Let go you crazy killer!"_

"_Crazy…killer…" Siegfried released his hold on the thief as he began to get up from the floor and looked up at the sky. "Is that what I am? Am I nothing more than a killer?"_

"_Look, whatever you are, I know you're not sane. Now, come on, the whole place is on fire and you'll get killed!"_

"_Leave me be…you have your fun…let me die in repentance!"_

"_Kid…I like you…but you're insane. Whatever you do, just don't ask for me to save your ass."_

_The blood that was on Siegfried's eye managed to sting it, but he didn't even try to wipe it away. The thief and the entire band had left him at the fortress. The fires began to eat away the fortress and began to scowl at the German warrior. _Now, I can repay my father, _he thought as he looked at the sky. It was then that an idea had crossed his mind. _Wait…I can't die yet…the one that killed father was this other me in my body! I…I don't know how to kill him, but I will! This nightmare in my body….

"_Siegfried," hissed a voice from behind him._

"_Who's there?" asked Siegfried as he turned around. He saw nothing, but the flames._

"_Siegfried…Schtauffen….you miserable roach."_

"_Tell me, who are you!"_

"_It is a sin what you have done…and it's a sin that you're alive. You're a monster….a murderer."_

"_Stop it! I know what happened….but are you my other me! Show yourself!"_

"_Miserable Siegfried…he thinks he can do anything. Soon enough your madness will engulf you and you will not have any control on your body anymore. A fool like you should kill yourself!"_

"_No…I…I can't…"_

"_Yes you can…" hissed the voice again. "You're just being a coward."_

"_Stop it!" shouted Siegfried as he swung his sword at nothing but the air._

"_Face it, Siegfried….you're a lunatic and once you're set free you'll kill everyone that's close to you. What would your mother say about this? I'm sure she wants to know that her own son killed her husband!"_

"_Shut up…" whispered Siegfried as he gradually shouted. "Shut up…shut up! Leave me alone! Get out of my head! Leave me alone! I'm not a monster! I'm not a monster! Leave me alone!"_

"_Siegfried…" said Frederick as he looked at his son._

"_Siegfried…" said his mother, Margaret as she frowned at him._

"_Siegfried…" spoke the shadow._

"_Siegfried….wake up…"_

"Siegfried! Wake up!"

"Wha!" shouted Siegfried as he suddenly popped up from the bed.

Upon doing so, Lara's eyes widen as she fell back onto the ground and screamed. Siegfried began to pant as sweat fell down his brow as well as chest and abdomen. He placed a hand through his hair then let out a sigh. _Still just a dream, _he thought as he let out a sigh. He looked over at the rather frighten and confused girl on the ground. Siegfried felt a bit ashamed.

"Damn!" shouted the girl as she quickly got up from the floor. "You could at least warn me next time you're going to yell like some sort of a bear or something!"

"What were you trying to do?" asked the blond.  
"Oh, well you were screaming in your bed and yelling out in your dream so I got a bit concern, only a little! So I tried to wake you up and now I did. Besides, its dinner time and I'm hungry."

"I still have the leftovers from what I hunted yesterday."

"Eww, I want something good to eat since we're in town!"

"If you have your own money, why don't you go buy it yourself? I don't have much and I'm not going to waste it on a kid's stomach."

Lara glared at Siegfried.

"Oh, so I'm fat huh!" she shouted.  
"I didn't say you were fat," said Siegfried.

"You're implying it! You're such a jerk!"

"You know, I'm so glad that you're going to be staying here, because I doubt I could handle you one more minute of my life."

"H-hey!" let out Lara as she pointed a finger at Siegfried. "You can't go back on your word! I am traveling with you!"

"Guess what?" asked Siegfried as he somewhat smirked at her. "You're staying here."

"No! Don't be such an ass!"

"If you want to travel, don't ask for money from me! If you want to eat, fine, I'll give you twenty gold pieces. See what you can buy with that amount. As for me, I think I'm going to head over to the pub. I want to be left alone."

Siegfried handled Lara some gold over to her before he headed off towards the door.

"But…you were alone when you were sleeping," whined Lara as she felt a bit lonely.

"Look, when you grow up, you can join me for a drink," replied Siegfried. "As for now, just go off and eat."

Siegfried walked out from his room in just his regular clothing, without his armor and headed off towards the pub. The pub part of the inn was rather noisy and crowded that evening. Some drunken men were singing to some sort of a song that Siegfried couldn't understand since they were slurring the words now. He sat down by the bar part of the bar and was about to order when someone came his way.

A young woman with a rather skimpy dress came by. Her voluptuous curves were rather tantalizing for any man to see. Some of the men were staring at her as she walked in a stride. Her blonde hair was placed in a bun and some of her curls fell down her face. Her emerald eyes caught the figure of Siegfried as she winked at him. Siegfried looked at her before he turned his attention towards getting a drink. Just then, the woman walked over to Siegfried and sat down on his lap. She placed her arms around him.

"Hey there," she said to him. "Care for a tumble, handsome? Usually I'm two hundred gold pieces as for you; I'll cut it down to fifty gold pieces."

"Not interested," replied Siegfried as he took up his mug of ale and took a drink from it.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I can be more interesting then that pint you're drinking. You look a bit tense and I'll be sure to make your troubles go away."

"Woman…you don't know where my troubles begin."

"Well then, that means the more for us to go over to my little room and talk this out."

The harlot licked her lips as she looked seductively at Siegfried. She slowly leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. Siegfried tried to pry the woman off from him, but didn't want to hurt her. Something from the corner of his eye managed to catch his attention.

"What do you think you're doing!" shouted a voice.

"Who's the boy?" asked the harlot as she looked at Lara.

"The name's Lara," barked Lara. "And for your information, I'm a girl."

"Oh, it's hard to tell considering you don't have much of a bust."

"Listen you," glared the raven haired girl as she placed her arms around Siegfried's arm. "I'm his wife! You better back off!"

"Wife!" exclaimed both the harlot and Siegfried.

"Yes! We're newly weds and my husband just wants to take a break from our long love making we were doing."

Siegfried's eyes popped out a bit.

"Where's your ring?" asked the harlot.  
"I left it back in our room…don't want thieves or whores like you to steal it."

The harlot glared at Lara before she released her hold on Siegfried. She jumped from his lap, shoved Lara, and then walked out towards the other men. Lara smirked at her victory as she stuck a finger at the harlot. She turned her attention back to Siegfried and took a hold of his hair. In one movement, she yanked on it hard.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" shouted Siegfried as he pulled his hair away from the girl.

"You were going to sleep with her!" she shouted back. "I can't believe you! You want to get away from me so you can have slutty women for yourself! Well, what's wrong with me! Is it because I don't have melons on my chest!"

"Shut up!" hissed Siegfried as he took a hold of Lara's arm and covered her mouth. "Listen, do you want to make a scene after the scene you just did? One scene is more than enough from you! Look, I didn't want anything from that woman, she wanted money from me. As for you…it's more than just your chest that would bother me…in fact your chest wouldn't be a factor. You're just an annoying little confused girl. Don't mess around with me."

Lara bit Siegfried's hand, causing the German to release his hold on the ground.

"Fine…I see where this is going…" said Lara as she looked away from Siegfried. "I'm just ugly for you…because I look like a boy…."

"Oh mein Gott…" sighed Siegfried as he placed a hand on his forehead. "Will someone please….kill me? Look, you're not ugly…like I said, you're just annoying. Anyway, I going to go outside…DON'T follow me."

Siegfried paid for his pint before he took up the mug and finished his entire drink in one gulp. He looked over at the girl before he shook his head and gave out a sigh. Siegfried walked over to the front and took a seat on one of the chairs on the porch. Just as he was about to relax an old man offered the German warrior some tobacco to smoke.

"Want some?" asked the old man as he showed the pipe.

"I guess," replied Siegfried as he took the pipe and puffed in the smoke.

"Heh, heh, I have never seen such a tense up man like you in over five years. Is something bothering you?"

"A lot of things bother me," Siegfried took in another puff of smoke from the pipe. "A lot has happened which I can't discuss with some people."

"Ah, you can tell me."

"Well…I never thought I would be quite a hated man. It seems that everywhere I got, I'm being haunted, hunted, or annoyed…"

"Well, I hope you do have a friend to be there with you."

"Heh," scoffed Siegfried. "As if you can call her a friend."

"Sometimes friends aren't perfect. Usually friendship can't be formed unless the other accepts one for who they are. If someone accepts you for who you are, shouldn't you accept them for who they are as well?"

Siegfried stopped himself from taking another puff and looked at the old man. Somehow, he felt like he had heard that speech from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Siegfried looked at the sky and saw some of the stars. He closed his eyes as he remembered his small home and how the stars could be more visible in the countryside.

Meanwhile, back inside of the pub, Lara began to explore the place. She felt a bit angry with the German warrior, but decided to go look for Cassandra. She smiled when she saw the Greek warrior sitting by one of the tables, enjoying a meal. Lara walked over to her and sat down on the chair next to her.

"Hi!" piped Lara. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Well, it seems you all ready have," replied Cassandra as she giggled a bit.

"So anyway, you said you were from Greece, why are you in…um…where are we again?" asked Lara as she scratched her head.

"We're in Spain. The reason why I'm not in Greece is rather for a …noble type reason."

"Oh? Are you some sort of a hero?"

"Well…you could say that. You see…" Cassandra looked over at the people around her. "I think it will be best if we talked in private."

"Okay…"

Cassandra got up from her seat and began to walk out from the pub. Lara followed close by and headed off towards another part of the inn, which lead to a mansion. This was the place where Cassandra had to guard. Once they knew they were alone, Cassandra looked the door to the mansion entrance and looked over at the girl.

"Okay, we can talk now," said Cassandra. "Have you ever heard of Soul Edge?"

"Yeah…isn't that the big ass sword?" asked Lara.

"Well…it's a broken sword if that's what you mean. You see a long time ago, Soul Edge was shattered by a ninja called Taki and my sister, Sophitia. Once part of Soul Edge was shattered, Sophitia stuck a shard of Soul Edge into her body so she can track down the other shards of Soul Edge. However, she got married and had children. My niece and nephew were born with Soul Edge power."

"They're evil?" asked the thief.

"No, they're not," replied Cassandra, "but the problem is, they are good potential hosts, as that woman said."

"What woman?"

"A strange woman who carried a strange weapon appeared and fought against Sophitia. She had green hair and purple eyes. She said she wanted the children for being host into being something called Nightmare."

Upon hearing the word, nightmare, Lara froze.

"A woman…is trying to make a new Nightmare?"

"Yes…supposedly…however, she said she needed to find the Azure Knight. The Azure Knight is a man that once wielded Soul Edge. She can't do anything if Soul Edge is away from her."

"Strange…she sounds…somewhat familiar, but I don't remember a woman like that."

"Oh well…it doesn't matter. I stopped here for a bit because I was low on money. Once I have enough, I'll continue my search for the Azure Knight."

Outside of the village a lone figure walked out from the shadows of the forest. His white coat covered his head, only revealing his one golden, glowing eye. His dark skin hid him well, like a panther, yet what was striking about the man was the rather large scythe he carried around. Taking out a shard of Soul Edge, he examined the piece of it. The shard began to glow intensively.

"Looks like I may have found some leads here," he said in a deep voice. "Soon, my dream will be met when I have my hands upon the swords."

The dark skinned man made his way through the field. He headed off towards the direction of the mansion. _A place like this might hold what I'm looking for, _he though as he reached the mansion. Just as he was about to break in, a figure caught his glance. He looked over at a young man caring a rapier in his hands.

"When I find Nightmare I'll avenge my father!" he spoke to no one in particular.

"You say you're trying to look for Nightmare?" asked the hooded man.

"Yes…isn't he the Azure Knight? Do you know where he is?"

"You might say that I might…you might say that I might not. I do know, however that the man you're searching for is a man with long blond hair and a scar right on his right eye. You can't miss much except that he wears quite a lot of armor and caries that big sword. I believe he is to be staying at the inn."

"Thank you, sir! I'll be sure to thank you for this rather well!"

"Be gone with you."

The young man vanished, leaving the hooded man by himself. He looked over at the window and broke it using his scythe. He climbed up the window and got inside of the mansion. He began to search the place looking for any clues of where he could find information about the swords. The soft red carpet was quite amazing and went with the brown colored walls that were decorated with paintings. Just as he was about to continue, a young woman stopped him. Behind her was another young woman.

"Who are you?" asked the young woman.

"That is none of your concern," replied the dark skinned man.

"It is my concern! I'm guarding this place and I can't allow a petty thief like you to take anything from this place."

The dark skinned man didn't look amused nor did want to do anything with the blonde woman before him. He looked over to the wall and noticed the lantern that was hanging. A devious idea crossed his mind as he moved his scythe and knocked the lantern over. The fires began to spread across the carpet and on the tapestries. Cassandra tried to put out the fire, but the dark skinned man swung his scythe to prevent the girl from coming any closer.

"This is bad…" said Cassandra. "Lara, leave here at once and go warn everyone to get out."

"What about you?" asked Lara.

"Don't worry about me, I'll handle this guy. I can't let him cause anymore damage."

"Kick his ass, Cassandra!"

"He, he, I will."

Lara quickly scurried off and headed towards the pub again.

"Well, you're quite the foolish one," said the dark skinned man. "Are you prepared to die?"

"I can't lose!" hissed Cassandra. "I will fight you because I have a mission to do and I can't let my loved one down!"

The hooded man smirked a bit before he raised his scythe and got into a fighting pose. Cassandra did a quick prayer to Hephaestus then readied her weapon. She glared at the man as she rushed over and swung her blade at him. The man blocked the sword with his scythe then swung at her. Cassandra ducked her head then slashed at the man's robe. The blade managed to cut a part of his cloth, but nothing past that.

Cassandra began her own combo of attacks and smacked the man right in the face using her shield. Blood leaked from his nose as he tried to cover the wound. He glared and slashed his scythe at Cassandra. The scythe cut through her clothing and manage to cut her side. Cassandra held onto her side as blood began to stain her clothing.

"You're beginning to fatigue, girl," said the man. "You should run while you have the chance."

"I'm not going to lose to you!" shouted Cassandra. "I'm not a coward and I won't let you beat me!"

"I put a curse on you…" said the man.

Just then his fingers began to glow as he did a strange cross type thing. Cassandra was confused at his actions, but readied herself for whatever was to come her way. She rushed at him and was about to attack him when suddenly, he ducked and punched Cassandra in the stomach. The strange purple glow that came from his hands went through her body and rendered the girl unconscious.

"You fought well, warrior of the gods," said the dark skinned man, "however I can not be beaten. I have my destiny to fulfill and you can not stop me."

The fires began to manifest the entire mansion. The man quickly rushed over to where the books were kept, sadly, they were all ready consumed by the flames. He scowled himself for taking too long with the girl. He quickly rushed out from the mansion, leaving behind the unconscious Cassandra to die in the mansion.

Meanwhile, Lara had managed to get everyone out of the inn, or at least once they saw the smoke and fire. Everyone panic and began to run towards the exit. Just as Lara was about to rush off, she noticed she was forgetting something. _Mr. Squeakers! _She thought as she quickly rushed over back to her room. The fire began to really be heavy as support beams from the building began to fall from the roof.

Lara reached her room and found Mr. Squeakers. She quickly got him and placed him back into her shirt. She looked over and saw Siegfried's armor and swords. She wanted to carry those to him, but at the same time she just wanted to escape. Hesitating for a moment, Lara quickly placed the armor on her and tried to carry both the Requiem and Soul Edge, which was covered in a brown sack.

"Damn it!" she let out as she reached the stairs. "These damn things are so heavy! I can't…"

Outside, Siegfried had managed to catch the fires and the commotion of the entire thing. He quickly began to search for Lara, but couldn't find her. _Stupid girl, _he thought, _she better had run from this building. _His attention soon turned back to Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. He quickly rushed inside and began to make his way towards the room. Right by the stairs, he saw the girl with his weapons and armor.

Siegfried felt a bit relief. He quickly walked over to her and carried her and the items all at once. Lara was shocked at the man's strength, but was relieved that she didn't have to carry everything by herself. Just as they were passing by, the door that lead to the mansion was busted open. Inside, Lara could see the fallen figure of Cassandra. She screamed and fussed, but Siegfried didn't pay attention to it, until they reached the outside of the building.

"Cassandra!" shouted Lara as she kicked around.

"Will you knock that off!" scowled Siegfried. "Who is Cassandra?"

"She's a girl that's still in the building! She's going to die! Someone save her!"

"Calm down!"

"Please…" pleaded Lara as a tear fell down her face, "will you save her?"

"You didn't have to cry for it," replied Siegfried as he petted Lara's head. "You stay here and take care of my things, I'll save Cassandra."

Siegfried took the Requiem in his hand and rushed back into the inn. He headed off towards the mansion part and kneeled before Cassandra. As he was about to carry her, someone broke into the mansion. A young woman with a bandana on his head and was carrying a rapier appeared before him. The man looked rather stern at Siegfried.

"Nightmare…" he said.

"Damn…not now…" said Siegfried.

"Nightmare, I'm here to fight you and avenge my father, prepare to die!"

"Look, this building is about to collapse, I don't want to fight you, and I'm sorry for your father."

"Shut up and let us fight!"

The man didn't let Siegfried say anything after that. He quickly began to slash at the man. Having no armor made Siegfried move faster, however, he was much clumsier since he wasn't use to fighting without armor. The sword managed to cut at Siegfried's right leg. Blood trickled and stained his green pants. Siegfried swung the Requiem with much strength that it manage to cut a rather large and somewhat severe wound to the man's chest. The man fell on the ground.

"Shit…" he said, "you got me. I have failed my father…"

"Look, you're not going to die," said Siegfried. "I'm not allowing it."

Siegfried placed his sword on his back where a small strap clasped the weapon to his body. He kneeled down and raised the man over to his shoulder. Siegfried quickly went over to Cassandra and carried her body as well. In a matter of moments, Siegfried walked out, carrying both Cassandra and the man. The crowd all huddled up to see them. Lara quickly rushed over to see if he was okay. Siegfried only gave her a reassuring look at her then placed both fighters on the ground.

"You saved me…why?" asked the man.

"I can't let another death be on my head…" replied Siegfried.

"Cassandra!" shouted Lara as she tried to wake up the Greek girl. "Cassandra, please open your eyes! Siegfried, she's not waking up!"

"Move out of the way, she'll need air."

Siegfried kneeled down and tilted Cassandra's head slightly upwards then placed his head over to her chest. He could feel a faint heartbeat, but she wasn't breathing. He opened her mouth slightly then took in a deep breath. He lowered his head down, placed his lips on hers, and then blew in some air. Lara let out a small blush at the action but couldn't help the sting of envy. Once Siegfried blew in some air, he applied pressure to Cassandra. After doing so a few times, Cassandra finally let out a cough. She quickly sat up and looked around her. The first thing she noticed was the rather handsome man before her.

"Did…you save me?" she asked him.  
"Yes, I did," he replied.

"Cassandra!" piped Lara as she hugged Cassandra. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

"Heh, I'm glad you're okay too," replied Cassandra as she hugged Lara back.

"Who started this fire?" asked the inn keeper. "The baron will not be happy once he finds out who done it."

"Oh, it was…" Cassandra spoke, but was sadly interrupted.

"It was Nightmare!" shouted a woman. "It was the Azure Knight. I saw him with my own eyes!"

"I saw him too!" spoke a man. "He came up to me and attacked me with his sword. Scary man he is!'

"The Azure Knight flew from the sky, like a dragon and blew fire onto the building!"

"Wait!" called Cassandra as she tried to calm down the crowd.

"Cassandra," spoke the mansion owner as he walked over to her. "What was the meaning of this?"

"A man came out and attacked the manor. I don't know if he was the Azure Knight or not…."

"Look, what happened, happened but I would like to have some answers. I want to know who is the man responsible for this mess!"

The dark skinned man took off his hood to blend in with the crowd. Through a small gap between the people, he saw Siegfried and close to him, covered in a brown sheet looked like a sword. _That must be the sword, _he thought. He smirked as he got an idea in his head. _I can't allow you to stay here any longer. You need to collect souls to power that sword._

"Excuse me," whispered the man to another man, "isn't that blond man suspicious looking?"

"What are you talking about?" asked the villager. "He saved that girl's life."

"Are you sure he wasn't using it for cover up? What is underneath that brown sheet? It looks like a rather large sword. Plus, doesn't that scar on his face looks a bit odd?"

"That scar…" replied the villager as he took a good look at Siegfried's face. "It does look familiar…and whatever type of sword he's hiding underneath that brown sheet is rather….odd."

"Why don't you ask him to show it to the people?"

The villager looked a bit stern at the dark skinned man, but decided to trust his judgment. He walked through the crowd and headed over to Siegfried. The dark skinned man smirked as he began to disappear into the shadows of the night. The villagers were a bit dumbfounded of what was going on, but the lone villager pointed at the covered Soul Edge.

"Excuse me, Sir Knight," spoke the villager, "but it would be wise if you could show us what you're covering. It looks like a sword."

"Oh," Siegfried looked at the covered Soul Edge and winced. "It's nothing…"

"Nothing? It doesn't sound like nothing. If it really is nothing, why don't you show it?"

Siegfried felt himself stiffen a bit. Lara could see his uneasiness. She glared at the villager.

"If it's something he doesn't want to show, he doesn't have to show it!" she shouted.

"Quiet you," said the villager. "Now show us the sword."

Siegfried let out a sigh as he placed a hand upon his sword. He uncovered it to show the fused Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. All the villagers began to scream, murmur, and gasp once they saw the sword. It was then that everyone had started to accuse Siegfried.

"This man is a monster!" shouted a woman.

"He's the Azure Knight!" shouted a man.

"It was that man that started the fire!"

"No, stop!" shouted Cassandra as she got up to protect Siegfried. "This man saved my life. If he was truly a monster, do you think he would have done so?"

"He was only doing that to cover his true self!" shouted another man. "I'd say we kill him!"

"He killed thousands of men, he should die too!" shouted a woman.

Siegfried quickly covered Soul Edge then placed it on his back. Lara gave him his armor, which he quickly put on. Both of them began to make a run for it as they rushed through the night. Cassandra stood a bit baffled at them. She looked over the crowd and saw the same man who attacked her. In an instant, he disappeared once more. Cassandra looked over at the mansion owner.

"Sir, I can tell you that they are innocent!" she cried out. "The man saved my life and the girl he walks with is as innocent as a lamb!"

"I'm sorry, Cassandra," replied the owner, "but there is nothing I can do to stop this crowd. He had the sword."

"Then…I'm sorry sir, but I quit."

"It is a pity to lose such a warrior like yourself, but if that is what you feel then I can't stop you."

The mansion owner gave Cassandra a sack full of gold.

"That is your pay," he replied. "You may leave now."

"Thank you….sir," replied Cassandra as she rushed past the crowd and headed towards where Siegfried and Lara were heading off.

It wasn't long before Cassandra had actually caught up with them. She was rather quick on her feet. Both fighters welcomed the Greek warrior and all three of them made their way over towards the west. Their next destination would be the ports where they were to travel by sea. Siegfried knew that in order to destroy Soul Edge, he was to learn more knowledge. He heard a rumor about a rather immense library in England.

Somewhere else, on the open seas, a dark boat was scourging the waters. Dead men worked the boat; all were powered by the power of Soul Edge. Sitting upon the mast of the ship, was a ghastly old man with a snowy white beard. His rather lovely clothing only indicated that he was the captain of the ship. He looked through his telescope and saw a lone ship in the waters.

"Men!" he shouted. "Avast ye! Bring me that ship and bring me whatever loot you'll see in it!"

The ghostly men began to move the ship closer to the smaller vessel. Once they had reached the boat, a group of men got inside of the lifeboat and moved over to the smaller boat. The men moved the strange cloth that was covering the boat. In a second, they all fell dead. The figure got inside of the boat and rowed over to the bigger ship.

In a matter of moments, the figure from the smaller ship began to slaughter the ghostly men. Screams and yells of pain were heard throughout the night. The captain of the ship grew suspicious as he saw the figure killing the other men. He jumped from the mast and readied his weapons: the Soul Edge and Nirvana. His pure white eyes looked over at the figure.

"You there," he shouted as he pointed his blade, "You're quite a feisty one, child. Do you wish to become a part of me?"  
"Heh," scoffed the figure as it raised a strange weapon that resembled an iron ring. "You think you still are strong enough to fight me?"

"Then you wish for death."

The pirate attacked the strange warrior. He slashed at her using his two swords, but missed as she back-flipped out of the way. The intruder attacked using the strange ring and slashed at the pirate's chest. The weapon managed to cut his stomach, but no blood came out. He laughed as he swung his blade at the intruder.

The intruder ducked down and began to wheel the iron ring. It began to glow a strange color as the intruder increased the speed. The next movement, the figure attacked the pirate and managed to bring him down to his knees. The pirate began to feel weak for some reason. He coughed a bit as he glared at figure before him. A lighting bolt struck the ocean to show a bit of the figure's appearance. It was a woman with short green hair and strange purple eyes. A raven flew by and landed on her shoulder.

"Well then, Cervantes," she spoke as she petted the raven. "It seems you've gotten weaker. Run out of souls?"

"You…curd!" coughed Cervantes as he spit. "What did you do to me?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed yet? Soul Edge has been weakened. The power of the holy sword managed to neutralize it, making those that are infected with Soul Edge, weak. I thought a servant of the sword would have known this by now."

"The sword…has been weakened?" Cervantes looked down at his arm. He noticed that his ghastly purple skin was beginning to rot. "So it is true…and as time progresses, I grow weaker."

"That is why you have to help me find the sword. The Azure Knight has been weakened and a new warrior has the blade now. Find the man known as Siegfried Schtauffen and kill him."

"What do you want out of this?" asked Cervantes as he raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Why, I'm just doing my part. I am, after all, a servant of Soul Edge. I live only to protect the sword and look for a new host. One that is worthy of becoming the new Azure Knight. You…are too old for the power. I think I know where I can find the best candidates….however I'm going to need this ship to take me there."

"If what you're saying is true, then I suppose we are to work together…for now. You can't take my ship, but I can help you find your own, besides I need to eat away more souls to refuel my energy."

"Then….it's a done deal." The woman let out a rather devilish grin.

_And so ends the chapter. I hope this chapter was quite a shock for you guys. Enjoy it, for next up will be even more battles, especially ones that involve Miss Ivy._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for your reviews! Those that I have reviewed I've replied to you and all. Thanks for looking up my fic and taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it a lot! _

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Four: Ivy**

"Ahh!" Echoed a scream through the empty halls of a rather large manor.

The interior of a lovely mansion was quite a site to behold. Its whitewashed walls and its marble floors only indicated grace and beauty. Upon the walls were several portraits of the previous owners of the manor. One portrait, in particular, was a picture of a lean looking man, a gentle yet graceful woman, and a young child with snowy white hair. A stream of blood covered the portrait now as a figure was suddenly slammed into the wall.

The figure fell down to the ground and landed on the marble floor. Her once snowy white hair had stains of blood that had fell from her brow and down to her face. Her cold eyes were losing its lust as she felt her body become weak. She placed a gloved hand on her side to stop the blood that was coming out from her gash. The once white suit was now a pink color.

She looked up as a shadow soon overcame her. A dark man wearing white clothing smirked down at her. He rose his sleek looking scythe as he pointed its tip on her cheek. Anger rose up inside of the young woman as she spit at the man's direction. Some blood came her from lips as she growled at him. The man looked unfazed at her.

"Bastard!" The woman growled.

"You have quite a warrior's spirit, cursed woman," the dark man said, "but not enough strength to defeat me. I will not ask you again, so answer me correctly: where is the book of the sword of salvation? I know from the information I had that this was the hidden library which carries such fruitful knowledge. I do not wish to kill you. Tell me where the book is."

"What do you want with the book?"

"That I can not tell you, but what I can say is that I'm protecting you."

"Protecting me?" The woman looked up at the man with curious eyes.

"If I recall correctly, there was a man known as the Azure Knight who once wield Soul Edge and that you used to be a servant of the cursed one."

"Azure Knight…?"

_The woman remembered that she used to be a servant of the Azure Knight. Her memory recalled a part where she had stood by him in Ostrheinburg. She remembered the dark figure that would always stand by the window. His entire façade had always been covered by the dark armor he wore. The smell of blood and brimstone would always have been his scent and he wore that scent proudly, as if it was his own perfume._

"_Ivy…" he snarled as he kept his eyes on the window._

"_Yes, sir?" Ivy replied._

"_I need…more souls. I need to keep this power flowing."_

"_I…understand sir. Tira, Astaroth, and Aeon have gone off to find more shards of Soul Edge and feed them souls for you."_

"_Very well. I hope you keep the good work up. I don't want you to make me uneasy, like Tira has done recently."_

"_I live only to serve you, Milord."_

_Him, _Ivy thought, _yes, I remember him. During that night, the both of us were alone. I thought I could have learned more about him, but he was always an enigma. I remembered it was the time where he finally took off his helmet and revealed to me what he looked liked. His long blond hair, his bright yellow eyes, and that scar…I didn't think someone that handsome would be capable of doing such chaos. For once, he actually looked human that night._

"You remember him, don't you?" The dark man asked.

"Yes, but what do you care about?" Ivy spat at him.

"Your former master is coming this way. He wants that book from you so he can destroy it. He wants to reawaken Soul Edge and return it to its full glory. He knows about your library. I came here to protect that book from him. I will return it to you once you've killed him."

"K-killed him?" Ivy's blood rushed cold through her body. "I'm not so sure if I'm strong enough…"

"Believe me…he has weakened. I'm sure you've sensed that Soul Edge's power has been suppressed, but not destroyed. Only you can stop him."

"Very well…I don't trust you completely as either way if I don't comply you're going to take the book away from me against my will."

"Good girl…"

"Who are you…?"

"I am no one you should know…I have long forgotten my true name. People refer me as Zasalamel."

Elsewhere and across from the English Strait, the sounds of mischievous giggling echoed through a small forest. Running through the evergreen surroundings, Lara ran through the forest. On her hands were heavy, metallic gauntlets. Behind her was Siegfried. The German warrior was rather aggravated as he tried to get his gauntlets and arm guards back. Cassandra followed behind him. She tried to hold back the giggles that were coming from the back of her throat.

"Give me back my armor!" Siegfried shouted as he was catching up with the young girl.

"You have to try to catch me!" Lara giggled.

"Will you two stop running so much?" Cassandra asked.

Lara quickly had an idea. She stopped running then using some strength she had, she jumped from the ground and started to climb up the tree in front of her. Siegfried stopped and looked up at the girl as she quickly perched herself on an empty branch. Lara giggled in victory as she stuck her tongue out at Siegfried and swung her legs.

"You're too slow, Sieggie," Lara cooed.

"Get down from there!" Siegfried shouted as he pointed his finger down on the ground.

"No way! This is so much fun!"

Lara leaned back on the branch as she swung like a monkey. She wrapped her legs around the branch and swung upside down. She teased Siegfried by sticking out her tongue. Siegfried made a grab for her. Lara tried to pull herself up, but the gauntlets that were on her arms prevented her from pulling herself up. The thief was now stuck on the tree.

Lara squirmed a bit as she tried to get herself up. Siegfried stopped for a moment and noticed her predicament. A sly smirk appeared upon his lips as he walked over to the girl. Lara noticed his smirk and began to swing her arms around.

"Well, well," Siegfried said, "it seems like you're stuck."

"Shut up!" Lara shouted as she squirmed. "Help me get down!"

"You want down?"

"Yes! Get me down!"

"All right, if you insist!"

Siegfried walked over to the trunk of the tree. In one swift movement, the German warrior kicked the trunk of the tree with all his might. The trees gave off a shake which made Lara unwrap her legs. The girl fell down and hit her head on the forest ground. Lara slowly sat up as she rubbed her head. Siegfried took a hold of her arms and took back his gauntlets.

"You're so mean!" Lara whined as she felt some tears sting her eyes.

"Well, let's consider this a bit of a warning," Siegfried said as he looked at the girl, "don't ever do that again."

"You're no fun, either."

"Yeah, yeah."

"All right you two," Cassandra said as she walked over to them. "We need to figure out what we're going to do now."

"I know exactly where we're going," Siegfried said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. If the library in Old Toledo didn't have the information I was looking for, then the secret library would."

"Secret library?" Cassandra cocked her head a bit.

"Yes," Siegfried replied as he placed the gauntlets on his arms. "I collected information from a previous place that there was a secret library hidden in England. If that was true, then perhaps that's the place I should go. The library should be hidden in a rather large estate. Not so sure whose home it is but the manor is supposedly called Valentine Manor. Not so sure why, but the name sounds familiar."

"So…we're going to England." Lara said as she felt a slight shiver. "How are we gonna get there?"

"We're going to go to the port." Siegfried replied. "There is a one close by to Old Toledo. If we go now we might catch the next boat."

"Do we have to go to England?"

"Yes! Now, you either come with us or you're staying. Your choice."

"You better not leave me in England! I know you're capable of doing that!"

Siegfried just let out a somewhat smile, if you could call it a smile, before he got up and began to walk. Cassandra followed the warrior thereafter, leaving Lara still on the ground. Lara quickly got up and began to run after them. It took them a few hours, but the group managed to arrive at the port. The port was a rather small place. Old, rickety houses decorated the town along with the dirt road, broken down business, and the smell of fish.

Lara squinted her eyes as the smell of fish got to her. She moved her scarf to cover her face. The smell lessened but it still smelled horrible. Siegfried just rolled his eyes as he continued to walk. Both girls followed the warrior down to the pier. Just as they got there, a boat barely left the harbor. Siegfried growled as he saw the boat leave.

"Oh…was that the last boat?" Lara asked. "Oh, too bad! I guess we go back now!" Lara began to walk away, but Siegfried took a hold of her scarf.

"We're not going anywhere but on a boat," Siegfried stated flatly.

"Damn…"

"Yeah, but how are we going to get on that boat now?" Cassandra asked.

"I don't know…I need to figure out how we can. So, let's all think."

Siegfried closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Cassandra and Lara did the same thing that he did. As Siegfried cocked his head, both girls did the same thing. Siegfried opened his eyes then placed his left hand on his chin. He stopped for a moment as he slowly saw both girls doing the same thing that he was doing.

"Why are both of you copying me?" Siegfried shouted.

"It was her fault!" Lara shouted as she pointed at Cassandra.

"Lara, you're in trouble!" Siegfried pointed at her.

"Why do you always blame me?"

"Because you're always the cause of trouble!"

"Jerk!"

As both Siegfried and Lara continued to fight, someone had been eaves dropping on the group. An old man that was balding, got up from the rickety chair he had been sitting on and walked over to where the group was. He let out a smile to reveal that he had many of his teeth either rot off or have been pulled off. His dirty tunic was covered in bits of dirty and mud.

"Hey there!" He spoke as he waved to the trio.

"What do you want?" Siegfried asked.

"Nothing but a bit of your time, son. I heard that the three of you are having trouble trying to find a ship to get over to yonder England. Is that true?"

"Have you been eavesdropping on us?"

"No…well…yes, a little."

"Well, can you help us?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes I can! I have a boat myself and it will leave soon. I'm just looking to see if I can have at least twenty people to get on there. If you can get that amount to go to England then your voyage will be free."

"Sounds good!" Lara exclaimed. "Twenty people, huh?"

"Yes," the old man replied, "but it better before sunset. I don't like to sail at night."

So the trio walked away from the old man and headed off in search of finding twenty people to go on the boat. It took them about three full hours to find enough people, even if they weren't willing to. The old man let out a rather huge smile as he let everyone aboard the ship. Once the trio went inside of the ship's hold, they couldn't believe how it was.

A strange, putrid smell came from a couple of the cabins. Lara didn't want to find out what it was. The interior of the hold didn't look like it was stable as some of the doors' hinges were broken. Cassandra took a hold of one of the doorknobs and tried to pry it open with no use. Being more assertive, Cassandra managed to pull the knob out from the door.

The blonde woman couldn't believe it. She quickly picked up the doorknob and tried to put it back into the door. Nothing Cassandra could do could keep place the knob back. The door was now stuck. Siegfried pushed Cassandra a bit back, before he picked up his leg and kicked the door open. The impact of the kick was so great that it managed to break the top hinge of the door.

"Great job on this, Siegfried," Lara said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Siegfried replied.

"Enough you two!" Cassandra replied. She placed a hand on her forehead. "I swear, you two act like an old married couple."

"We're not a couple!" Siegfried shouted. "Why would I want to be with a brat like her?"

When Lara heard that, she felt herself fume up with anger.

"Oh!" She shouted. "I'm not good enough for you! Fine then! Go ahead and sleep in your smelly room! I'm going outside away from you!"

"Good! I'll need my rest!"

And with that last comment, Siegfried entered the room and tried to close the door. Of course since the hinges were busted, he could only somewhat close it. Lara just scoffed as she stormed out from the hallway and headed off towards the deck of the ship. Cassandra didn't know where to go from here. She looked over at Siegfried who had plopped himself on the bed. _Better not disturb him, _she thought as she headed off towards the deck to find Lara.

Outside, Lara walked over to the rail of the ship. She looked over at the water as it moved towards their destination. Lara let out a sigh as she felt frustrated. _Stupid bastard, Siegfried! _She thought. _Why is he always so mean to me? Am I not adorable? Or maybe it's the fact that I'm a girl…who happens to want to be a boy and that I look like one? Ugh! I'm just confusing myself! This so blows! He better not leave me behind or else I'll haunt him until the end of time! _

"Hey, Lara," Cassandra said as he walked over to Lara.

"Hey," she replied.

"Something wrong?"

"No! Everything is perfectly fine!"

"It doesn't seem so!"

Lara gave off a bit cheesy grin at Cassandra.

"See?" Lara said through clenched teeth. "I'm happy!"

"Heh, you are so strange."

"Fine!" Lara scoffed as she released her fake smile. "It's Siegfried…he pisses me off at times. Did you see that he blames me for things?"

"That may be true…but think about it…you're probably the only friend he has for now. I barely know him, but I know I want to be friends with him too. Perhaps he needs to take the time to get to know us a bit better."

Lara stopped and looked up at Cassandra. Cassandra gave off a sweet smile to the thief. Lara slowly formed a smile on her lips.

"You're right!" Lara said. "Sieggie only needs to get to know us better! We'll be his best friends!"

"That's better!" Cassandra replied.

"Hey…I was wondering…can you tell me something about yourself?"

"Something…about myself?" Cassandra looked at Lara with a confused look.

"You know…about what you think and such. I don't know much about you so I would want to get to know you."

"It's a long story, but I'm sure I can manage saying it all," Cassandra said as she looked out towards the sea. "It all started about twenty-three years ago. I was born in a small town in Greece and…"

_Rain fell down from the darken sky as Siegfried ran. His bloodied tunic was turn and burned from the previous battle. The images of his father's head on his hands still lingered in his mind. He panted as he kept on running through the fields. He entered a dark looking forest. Branches and thorns began to scratch Siegfried's face. A low branch managed to make Siegfried trip. The German warrior fell on the ground._

_Blood and mud covered his face as well as his once golden hair. Tears brimmed down from his face from his sorrow as well as the mud and blood that stung his eyes. He slowly tried to get up, but his knees were injured from the fall. Siegfried looked up at the sky through the trees opening. Water drops fell into his eyes._

"_Father…" Siegfried whimpered as blood fell from his lips. "Father…I…I'm sorry. I didn't want all this to happen…"_

_Siegfried looked down to the ground. His golden locks stuck down to his dirty face._

"_No…" he growled. "I didn't kill him…it was someone else. It was a dark shadow that came out of nowhere! Father was brutally murdered!"_

_Siegfried quickly looked up at the sky once more. He closed his right eye from the mud that stung his eye._

"_I will avenge you, Father!" Siegfried shouted. "I will avenge you, no matter what!"_

_Siegfried took a hold of the Faust and began to swing the sword around like a crazed man. He hit one of the trees and left a rather large cut on its bark. He swung upwards, cutting off some branches from some of the trees. The twigs and things fell on Siegfried's face, but he didn't mind. He was filled with insanity at this point. He took one last swing and managed to cut down one tree. His hands soon were bloody from overusing his sword. He looked at his hands before he let out a crazed laugh that echoed through the forest._

_Some time later…_

"_So…your name is Siegfried Schtauffen, correct?" asked a rugged looking man._

"_Yeah," Siegfried replied._

"_Good then, follow me."_

_The rugged looking man took Siegfried towards the inside of a castle. It was surrounded by a beautiful moat in which it kept intruders out. Once they were inside of the amazing walls, Siegfried stood in awe of the many knights and knights in training. Some were around his age and others were older. He let out a faint smile as his sapphire eyes scanned the area. _

_His eyes locked over to the figure of a rather adorable looking woman. She appeared to be no older than what he was. Her soft blonde hair glittered a lot from the sun's ray of light. She smiled softly at Siegfried as he kept looking at her. She gave off a friendly wink which made the German warrior blush furiously. Not looking at to where he was looking at, he suddenly tripped. Some of the knights began to laugh at the clumsiness of Siegfried. He quickly looked up at the girl who was covering her mouth from giggling._

_Siegfried quickly got up from the ground. He dusted himself off before he dashed a bit to keep up with the rugged man. Once he caught up, he let out a somewhat bashful smile. The rugged man just shook his head as he walked over to a dresser. He looked stern at Siegfried._

"_Tell me," he said, "why do you want to serve under Sir Stefan? Why do you desire to become a knight?"_

"_Sir," Siegfried said, "reason being…I want to avenge my father. My father was Frederick Schtauffen and he was murdered not long ago."_

_"I remembered hearing something like that," the old man looked down at the table before him as he leaned on it. "I'm sorry to hear that you lost your father. He was a great hero to our race: the Germans. As you know, the Holy Roman Empire has been suppressing our race for a long time now. We have been revolting against them for a long time now and thanks to those Italian Wars we have been able to get some freedom out of it, but it's not enough. Your father…led us to those rebellions."_

"_I know…" Siegfried replied as he looked away from the rugged man._

_The rugged, old man slowly rose up. He placed his hands inside of his pockets and pulled out a pipe and a small bag of tobacco. He slowly lit the pipe and took puffs of smoke._

"_It is a noble cause for you to avenge Frederick," he said. "He deserves to have his murderer impaled or decapitated for such a despicable act."_

"_I know," Siegfried replied as he tried to hide his tears, "that's why I have to avenge him! Please! Let me serve under Lord Stefan! I promise I'll become the best knight ever! Once I find that man who killed Father…"_

"_You have quite a lot of hate for this man…I don't blame you." The old man took another puff of smoke. "Any idea of who he is?"_

"_No…I don't. I hardly remembered what he looks like, but what I do know is that he has a black heart! I will kill this man!"_

"_You must be more than just wanting to avenge your father if you want to be a man. You have to swear your life into servitude of Sir Stefan. Do you, Siegfried Schtauffen, son of Frederick Schtauffen, swear your name, your life, and your blade to Sir Stefan? Kneel down if you are sincere."_

_Siegfried kneeled down on one knee. He lowered his head._

"_I, Siegfried Schtauffen, swear my life to Lord Stefan until I die," Siegfried said._

"_Good then," the rugged man said as he took another puff of smoke. "Arise, apprentice. You have much work to be done before you can be a knight. Your training begins now…"_

Siegfried slowly opened his eyes. _Have I been sleeping? _He asked himself as he slowly rose up from the bed. _Again I had another dream about my past. Why do these memories keep coming back to me all of a sudden? _Siegfried placed a hand on his brow as he tried to move his feet from his bed and down to the wooden ground. _Now that I think about it…I wonder where those two girls are. They haven't disrupted me for the longest time. _

Curiosity got to Siegfried as he slowly got out of his bed and began to walk out from his room. He made his way through the rickety hallway and towards the deck of the ship. A nice breeze blew from the north. The cool air kissed Siegfried's rough skin as his golden strands danced in the wind. He looked over the western sky. His eyes were glued to the lovely orange sunset. The palette of orange, blue, pink, yellow, and purple danced around in the sky.

He didn't know why, but he felt like a sense of security come around him. He felt at ease when he looked at the sunset. His eyes slowly shifted towards two figures that were leaning on the edge of the boat. He forgot about the sunset for now and walked over to the two girls. Both girls turned around to face Siegfried.

"Siegfried," Cassandra said, "you're up."

"Yeah," Siegfried replied. "I had a somewhat okay nap. Then I came here to see how you two were doing. I didn't want either of you to do something stupid."

Lara just glared at Siegfried before she turned around. "I'm still not talking to you," she said.

"Well…you just did," Siegfried replied.

"That's not fair!" Lara shouted as she turned around to face Siegfried. "You started that before I even announced that!"

"You're still talking to me," Siegfried replied as he smirked at her.

"Wha? Oh! You bastard!" Lara pouted as she crossed her arms.

Siegfried chuckled at the girl's anger, which made her even more peeved. Cassandra just shook her head. Her attention then went over to the sunset.

"When you guys stop bickering with one another," she said, "you should look at the sunset."

Lara and Siegfried stopped yelling at each other as they both looked over at the sunset. Both had soon lost their will to fight as they looked over at the sunset. The wind blew softly against their bodies. Their hair continued their dance with the wind. Lara closed her eyes as she enjoyed the wind. Cassandra let out a serene smile as Siegfried kept a soft face on.

"It's so beautiful," Cassandra said.

"It is," Siegfried replied.

"I never had a chance to enjoy the sunset that often like I used to do back in Greece. A lot of terrible things happened back home and since I've been on this journey, I can't really enjoy anything right now."

"I can't remember the last time I enjoyed something…" Siegfried replied.

Lara opened her eyes. She looked over at Siegfried and cocked her head a bit. Cassandra looked at Siegfried as well. Both girls grew a bit concern with what the German warrior had said. Lara's face changed into a sadden look. _I wonder if it's because he had been Nightmare. _She thought. _If that's the case, then it must have been hard on him._ Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

"Illy willy, silly nilly," Lara said.

"What?" Both Cassandra and Siegfried asked.

"Illy willy, silly nilly. It was an old saying back home. I invented it with my parents. It's suppose to be a reminder of not to worry about the present, but to look at the good times that raise your spirit. That way you can be a bit happier. That's why…whenever you should feel stressed or anything, just say those words and remember this sunset and the feeling it gives off."

"That…" Siegfried said, "Is probably the silliest idea I ever heard. It sounds stupid."

Lara frowned at Siegfried.

"But…I'll try it, just for you," Siegfried responded as he looked away.

"Yay!" Lara squealed as she jumped up at Siegfried and hugged him.

"I'm not going to do it often! And get off of me!"

Cassandra just rolled her eyes as she began to giggle at the scene. Some people on the boat thought they were a bit queer, but probably in good spirits. The boat kept on sailing throughout the rest of the day. The sun had finally set as the sky soon turned into a dark purple color. The stars began to shine up in the sky. The trio soon grew tired and headed off to sleep. Of course since the room hasn't that big, Siegfried volunteered to sleep on the deck while the girls slept inside of the tiny room.

Siegfried took a hold of the covered Soul Edge fused with Soul Calibur sword and walked over to find a good spot on the deck. He leaned close to the door of the ship's hold. He looked up at the night sky and viewed the stars. He felt a bit relaxed now. He clung on to the sword as he let out a rather loud yawn.

"Illy willy, silly nilly," Siegfried whispered softly as he began to fall asleep.

The next day, the ship harbored in England. The trio got out of the boat and started to look around the city they were in, in search of any clues of this Valentine Manor. They asked around the locals for any answers. Some locals pretended not to hear them, some claimed that they didn't know, and others just yelled at them. All seemed to be lost when they managed to stop right in front of a rather large mansion.

Having no other choice, the trio opened the gate to the mansion and headed off towards the front door. They all looked at the door with a confused look on their faces. Siegfried placed a hand on the door and knocked. No answer came from the inside. Siegfried tried again to knock on the door, but this time, a little louder. Once he finished knocking on the door, it opened. Apparently the front door was unlocked and left slightly opened.

Lara peered inside and saw something she liked. She quickly scattered inside, like a rat into the building. Siegfried was about to take a hold of Lara, but she managed to slip out of his reach. He quickly followed her as did Cassandra. Once they were inside, they looked at the interior of the mansion. They couldn't believe how beautiful it was.

Lara looked at a rather expensive looking vase. She slowly began to reach for it. Once she placed her hands on the vase, a strong tug pulled her back. Siegfried took a hold of her yellow scarf strong enough to almost choke the girl. Lara fell back to Siegfried while trying to hold onto the scarf so she wouldn't suffocate.

"Don't touch anything!" Siegfried hissed.

"That…hurt!" Lara coughed.

"Then don't ever do it again!"

"Where are we?" Cassandra asked.

"I don't know…but we should ask the owner of this home."

"Oh…you don't need to worry about that," a female voice echoed through the hall.

The trio looked all over the place to find the source of the voice. Lara looked up at the stairs which appear to lead to a small library. Standing by the edge of the stairs was a woman with short, snowy white hair. Her clothing was something that didn't seem womanly to wear. In her hands appear to be some sort of a sword.

"Siegfried Schtauffen…" she said in a cold tone, "or should I call you 'Master Nightmare?' Prepare to die!"

_And so ends the chapter. I hope this chapter was quite a shock for you guys. Enjoy it, for next up will be even more battles, especially ones that involve Miss Ivy._


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for not updating sooner. My laptop was destroyed and in the shop for about two months. So no writing and such which is sad. Anyway I'm back with more of this fic! _

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Five: The Wanderer**

"Master...Nightmare?" Cassandra replied as her eyes grew wide.

"Yes...Master Nightmare," Ivy said as she began to walk down a set of stairs that were next to her. "He is the man that has slaughtered over thousands of souls for Soul Edge. He is the monster who lingers in my nightmares and I'm here to kill him. You women, you servants of Nightmare, I suggest you start to say your prayers because I won't spare you any mercy."

Siegfriend looked at Cassandra as the girl looked down at him. Cassandra's heart began to race rapidly as she slowly began to back away from him. Siegfried's expression changed to a hurt one as he looked away from Cassandra. His eyes were now focused at Ivy. His once hurt blue eyes were now icy cold. He held on his sword with a tight grip. Lara looked at Cassandra and glared at her. She quickly changed her sight from Cassandra to Ivy.

"Look!" Lara shouted as she walked in front of Siegfried while extending her arms out. "I don't care who you are or what Siegfried was a long time ago, but there is something you have to know about Siegfried. Siegfried is Siegfried and that's all there is to it! He's no longer Nightmare and if you had enough sense in your head you'd shut the hell up and let us go!"

Both Siegfried and Cassandra looked at the younger girl in front of them. Both were shocked at what she had to say. It was different from what Lara would always say to them. Siegfried couldn't help but feel a bit happier. Cassandra took a good look at the younger girl as she stood there. _If...Siegfried really was Nightmare and she knows it..._she thought, _why does she hang around him? If a girl like her could trust him...then I should too. _Cassandra let out a soft sigh. Ivy, on the other hand, glared down at Lara.

"What a cheeky thing you are," Ivy said as she scoffed. "You think you can analyze people by being with them for a small moment. I have walked with Nightmare, side-by-side. I know that he is a master of deceit. You really think you can trust him? He looks human now...but soon the evil that is inside of his heart will come back out and kill you."

Lara's strong expression changed slightly as she felt an icy breath of doom go down her spine. If there was something she fear it would be death itself and Nightmare. She looked down at the ground. Her arms slowly began to descend down to her sides. In a swift movement, Lara looked back up at Ivy. She took one step and jerked her arms.

"If he really is a monster then that's a risk I'mwilling to take!" Lara shouted. "I'm going to stay by Siegfried's side because he needs friends! And if I don't stay by his side, then who will? And if a bitch like you is going to do nothing but call him terrible things, then I'm giong to kick your ass!"

"You really are a cheeky brat," Ivy snarled as she took out her chained sword. "Come at me then."

"Kid, don't do it!" Siegfried shouted.

Lara ignored Siegfried and rushed over to the stairs where Ivy was standing it. Lara took out her daggers and ran up the stairs. She tripped over herself, but quickly got up and continued to climb up the stairs. Ivy smirked at the girl's attempt to climb up the stairs. It amused her that some brat was going to the defence of a monster. Ivy took several steps back as Lara reached the final step. Lara readied her dagger and rushed at Ivy.

Ivy just waited for the girl to be within her reach. Just as Lara took one last step, Ivy wrapped her chained whip around the younger girl's right ankle. Lara let out a grunt as she saw the whip. Ivy tugged on the whip sharply, which tripped Lara over. Another tug managed to hurt Lara's ankle, fracturing some of the muscles. Ivy lifted the girl from the ground and threw her across the small balcony. Lara's body slammed against the bookcase, causing several books to fall on her. Lara whimpered a bit as she tried to move the books off from her body. Blood fell from her forehead and trailed down her nose. Ivy shook her head in disappointment.

"Tsk," Ivy said, "I think I overestimated you; thinking that you were some sort of a warrior. Now I'm confused as to why Nightmare would want to carry around such a fool like yourself."

You cheated!" Lara shouted. "What kind of a weapon is that?"

"One that was created especially for me. Now, I don't really like to kill people that can't protect themselves, but if you are in league with Nightmare, I can't let you live." Ivy recoiled her weapon from Lara's ankle and rose it above her head.

Lara took her dagger and tried to throw it right at Ivy. Ivy moved out of the way.

"What was that? A last struggle?" Ivy scoffed. "You're an even bigger idiot than I thought. I hope you have said your prayers now."

Lara brought her hands up to her face and covered herself. Ivy swung her chained weapon in the air before she brought it down on the young girl. The snowy haired woman was knocked off balance from a strong force from behind. The whip fell a couple of inches from Lara's head and ended up cutting part of the skin from her left hand. Lara let out a cry as she looked at her bleeding arm. She looked up with her watery eyes to see Siegfried standing above a fallen Ivy. Ivy rolled from the ground and quickly got up. She glared at Siegfried and Cassandra as they pointed their weapons at Ivy.

"You care to fight me instead?" Siegfried said. "Your fight is with me, not the girl."

"Heh, she stupidly rushed to battle," Ivy replied. "However...I'm more concerned about you."

"Cassandra," Siegfried said as he looked at his companion, "take Lara out of here."

"What about you?" Cassandra asked.

"I have something to deal with her. Just take care of the kid for now."

"No way, Siegfried!" Lara snapped as she got on her knees. "I'm staying here with you!"

"You already caused enough trouble for now! Just get out of here!"

"But..."

"Cassandra, move it!"

Cassandra jumped a bit before she did as she was told. She rushed over to Lara and wrapped one of Lara's arms around her neck. The blond warrior wrapped her arm around Lara's waist and hoisted her up on her feet. Lara didn't want to leave, but Cassandra managed to drag the younger girl down the stairs and away from the balcony.

Once both girls were out of his sight, Siegfried looked back at Ivy. He glared at her as he readied the Requiem. Ivy began to swing her chained whip around; ready to strike at Siegfried. Siegfried rushed at Ivy and swing his sword at the woman. Ivy dodged the attack and lashed out at Siegfried's shoulder. Siegfried let out a growl as he felt pressure, but thanks to his armor, the blow couldn't penetrate to his skin. However, the weapon did leave a dent in his armor.

Siegfried switched his sword to his right hand and swooped the blade down. The blade managed to make contact with Ivy's right ankle; knocking her down to the ground. Ivy rolled out of the way as Siegfried came charging at her with slams to the ground with his sword. Ivy recuperated from her attack, however, she was injured at her ankle. That didn't stop her as she lashed out her whip at Siegfried. The whip managed to make contact with Siegfried's left cheek. The German warrior placed his hand on his cheek to see blood stain his gauntlet.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ivy cooed, "did that I make you bleed?"

"Heh...this isn't the only time someone made me bleed," Siegfried commented as he lifted his sword over his head. "This time...I'm going to make you bleed profoundly."

"Enough talk then!"

Both warriors continued to fight. Ivy recoiled her whip back into blade form. She quickly rushed over at Siegfried just as he was about to swing his weapon down at the woman. Ivy parried his weapon with a bit of trouble, but managed to stop his blade. She kicked Siegfried hard in the stomach and on his chin. Siegfried was pushed back a bit. Ivy took the opportunity to strike at the blond. She swung her blade at the warrior's face. Siegfried moved his head a bit. The blade managed to miss his face, but had cut a few strands of his golden locks. The hairs fell down to the floor.

Siegfried had head butted Ivy right in her stomach, knocking the wind from her. Ivy clutched her stomach and wheezed. She tried her best to regain her breath. Taking this chance, Siegfried knocked Ivy with the dull part of his blade. Ivy fall on the ground, groaning in pain. She looked up at the ceiling as Siegfried's figure came up in her view.

"So what now?" Ivy asked Siegfried. "Are you going to kill me now for leaving you?"

"If I did want to kill you I would have done it a long time ago," Siegfried responded. "If I was that cold hearted killer that I was almost a year ago I would have gotten rid of you by now. I came here for one thing only: the book. I heard that you had a book that had the knowledge to destroy Soul Edge. I need it so I can finally get rid of that accursed blade."

"Destroy it?" Ivy's soft blue eyes opened widely. "You destroy it?"

"There is much to be explained...and I doubt you'd want to listen to my story. However, if you are curious about it and want to be freed from your chains of servitude, then I suggest we truce."

"...fine, we will truce." Ivy replied as she got up from the ground.

Siegfried sheathe his weapon. He offered his hand to Ivy. Ivy looked at Siegfried's hand for a moment before she took it. The blond warrior managed to lift up the English woman to her feet. Just then, Cassandra and Lara managed to climb up the stairs. Cassandra looked somewhat tired while Lara looked rather angry at the moment.

"Siegfried," Cassandra whimpered as she barely was holding onto Lara. "She wouldn't obey me. She wanted to come up here and so I was dragged her."

"Siegfried, you cheap bastard!" Lara barked. "I wasn't going to let you fight alone..."

Lara looked over at Siegfried and Ivy. Both warriors were standing and apparently still holding hands.

"You..." Lara hissed as she pushed Cassandra off of her and managed to limp over to Siegfried.

Once she got up to where Siegfried was, she stopped. Siegfried was rather curious at what was going on. Lara wasn't looking up at him and for a while, there everyone stood. Slowly, Lara looked up at Siegfried with teary eyes. She quickly slapped Siegfried across the face. Ivy and Cassandra stood in horror at the rage that Lara had inflicted on Siegfried.

"You inconsiderate idiot!" Lara shouted. "Here I was worried about you and all! I came here as fast as I could, only to see you flirting with the enemy and all! You're a womanizer, you know! You inconsiderate bastard! How dare you flirt with the enemy!"

"I wasn't flirting, you stupid brat!" Siegfried shouted back as he took a hold of Lara's wrist.

"Don't lie to me!" Lara shouted as she slapped Siegfried with her other hand. "You were holding her hand just now and looking at her with bed room eyes! Tell me, was it her melon sized boobs that captivated you?! Or maybe its because she's showing off her ass like a skanky whore!"

Ivy was feeling angry and annoyed at Lara. Cassandra, on the other hand, let out a nervous laugh as she saw both Siegfried and Lara fighting with each other. It took several moments to almost an entire hour, but soon both of them had settled down. Ivy and Siegfried managed to explain everything on what was going on, leaving Lara feeling like an idiot. She looked down at the floor; not wanting to see Siegfried right now.

"Either way," Ivy said as she paced back and forth, "what is done is done. We can't keep on crying over spilled milk. Now...I have to apologize to...Siegfried, correct?"

"Yeah," Siegfried replied.

"Alright. I apologize to you, sir. I didn't know what had gone on with her. I still don't understand much, but if these two girls trust you with so much confidence, then I suppose that you are human. As a token of my regret, you three are welcomed to stay in my mansion until you are ready to leave."

"Oh wow!" Cassandra said. "You have our gratitude for this!"

"I'm sure that you do. Now...my servants will take you three to your rooms in which you will be bathe, dressed in new clothing for your old clothing, and get you ready for dinner tonight."

"We really don't want to impose," Siegfried replied.

"Now, now," Ivy said as she shook her hands in front of her. "You deserve it. Now, just go off and relax."

Ivy clapped her hands. In a matter of moments a couple of servants had appeared around the group. The servants managed to drag away Cassandra and Lara away. Siegfried gave the servants a glare which meant that he'd walk. Just as he was about to leave something had stopped him.

"Siegfried..." Ivy said. "I need to talk to you. Can you follow me for a moment?"

Without saying anything, Siegfried walked over to Ivy. The snowy haired girl lead the way with the blond warrior following her close by. Siegfried didn't know where they were going. All he thought about was just following Ivy. Eventually the pair had arrived to a secluded area in the mansion. It was a hallway with many windows and paintings on its walls.

"Alright," Ivy said as she looked at the warrior. "Now I am all ears. You said you wanted the book of knowledge, right?"

"Yes," the German warrior replied.

"You can say that I do have it...and you can say that I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I did have the book...but now its gone. You see...before you arrived at my home, a man came to see me. He was a dark skinned man who wield a large scythe in his hands. He told me about you and that you were coming. That is why I was expecting you. He, too, came for the book and took it out from my hands saying that he will protect it. However...now since I've learned about you...perhaps he really didn't want to protect it. So...the best bet I have about the book, is that its probably destroyed now."

"Damn!" Siegfried hissed as he looked away.

"Siegfried," Ivy said softly, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."

"I don't...blame you for this." Siegfried turned to look at Ivy's sorrow filled eyes. "Everyone does mistakes...my mistake is that I'm still alive."

"Do you...really regret your life? Do you really wish not to live anymore? If that is so, then perhaps you should let me help you destroy Soul Edge. I regret what I have done and if you really can't handle it on your own..."

"No! I'm not going to let anyone else get involve in my mistakes!" Siegfried let out. "This is my burden. Mine and mine alone. Those two girls are following me but I did not ask them to come. If Lara's home isn't too far from here, then perhaps I can drop her off and ask Cassandra to continue her journey alone."

As Siegfried and Ivy continued to talk, little did they notice that Lara and Cassandra were hiding close by. The servants were begging them to go back to their rooms, but they insisted on hearing more; more on Lara's part then Cassandra's part. Lara clenched her fist and teeth as she heard the rest of Ivy's and Siegfried's conversation.

"Do you wish to abandon them?" Ivy asked. "To go alone like a lone wolf? Perhaps it is wise if those two girls can't keep up with your fighting. Not to mention that their lives are more at risk if they they are seen with you."

"That is why I have to leave them here and go alone. If I carry them with me, they will be nothing more than a burden, especially that girl."

Lara glared at the ground. She got up from the ground and limped back to her room. She heard enough and didn't want to hear anymore. Cassandra quickly followed her companion.

"I see," Ivy responded as she saw the figure of Lara disappear. "If she is from here, then perhaps I'll try to figure out where she's from. I'll be sure to send in some servants to drop her off there as well as Miss Cassandra."

"If that is all that needs to be discuss, I better go now," Siegfried said.

"Yes. You need rest and all. I will have a servant to come up and advice you when dinner's ready."

"Very well," Siegfried began to walk off.

"One more thing, Siegfried. If you wish to, perhaps we should go together and try to destroy Soul Edge together."

"I'll consider that."

Siegfried was taken away by one lone servant towards his room. The German warrior had to walk down several dark and rather empty hallways before he reached his room. The servant bowed his head and opened the door for him. He walked inside to see a tub filled with water. Standing next to the tub were two servants holding towels and lotions in their hands. Siegfried took the time to look around the room. It was a rather big room with lovely tapestries and a painting of a floral field. The bed was at the end of the room, next to the dresser.

"Come in, sir," one of the servants said, "we are here to bathe you. Please relieve yourself of all clothing and get in the tub."

Siegfried did as he was told. He placed his swords on top of the bed and relieved himself from his armor and clothing. He walked over to the tub and placed a foot inside. The water was freezing, but he had to grin and bear it for now. He slowly got inside of the tub. It was then that the servants began to wash the warrior. Though he did enjoy this bath, there was someone else that didn't enjoy it.

Lara had been very fussy about the bath. She never was fond of water or bathing for that matter. The servants were at wits end as they tried to keep the girl inside of the tub. Lara squealed as she splashed water around; wetting the floor as well as the servants. Once they managed to tie her down the servants began to scrub like crazy. Her hair was a total mess that it managed to house at least three fleas in her hair. After a long time of cleaning, they managed to succeed in transforming Lara into a lady; or at least look like one.

Lara growled as she tried to take off the pale green dress that the servants had donned on her. They quickly rushed to keep the dress on her as well as making sure that she doesn't mess up her new hair do. Somewhere else, Cassandra had finished her bath. She looked skeptical at her new clothing. It was a pale blue dress with a white neck that went down to her breasts. The helm of her dress was a bit frilly. The dress was suspended by two thin straps. Having no other choice of clothing since her regular clothing was sent of to wash, she donned the dress.

By this time, Siegfried had finished dressing in his new clothing. He wore a dark red tunic with brown leather pants and black boots. The servants had brushed his long golden mane and held it back into a loose ponytail. Siegfried walked over to the mirror and took a good look at himself. In his eyes he looked somewhat transformed. As if by some miracle, he was now a different person. A knock at the door had disrupted his chain of thoughts.

"Lord Siegfried," a voice called out from behind the door, "dinner is served. Lady Ivy awaits your presences."

"Coming," Siegfried replied as he walked out from his room.

Siegfried walked down the hallways and made his way over to the other part of the mansion. He walked into the dining area. It was lit by dozens of candles, which made the entire place shimmer like a jewel. The walls and the ceilings of the room had many drawings that were from an early art period. Drawing of angles and demons decorated the ceiling while the walls had soldiers and maidens on horses. Gold colored beams held the paintings in place.

Once Siegfried had finished admiring the art, he looked over at the middle of the room where a long rectangle table was set. Sitting at the head of the table was Ivy who was now wearing a fancy puffy dress. Sitting towards the end was Cassandra with her blue dress. Siegfried took a seat apart from Cassandra's seat.

"You look marvelous this evening," Cassandra said as she let out a small smile.

"Thank you," Siegfried replied. "So do you. That dress really suits your features."

"Th-thank you," Cassandra let out a small blush on her face.

"Hmm," Ivy said as she looked over to one of her servants, "one of you is missing. Where is the girl? Servant, I want you to check on her."

"Right away, Lady Ivy," the servant replied as he headed off to the guest rooms.

It took a while, but soon the sounds of shouts and complaints filled the air. All three warriors looked over to where the sounds were coming from. From the shadows came several figures. One of them didn't look like a servant. Lara was soon dragged into the light. Her pale green dress was suspended by thin straps. The neck of her dress showed off her shoulders as well as part of her figure. The helm of the dress flowed down to the ground. Her hair was let down; part of her bangs covered her face. She almost looked like some sort of a doll.

Lara looked at everyone then quickly looked at the ground as she approached a chair which was in front of Siegfried. A blush played around her cheeks as she felt so embarrassed everyone looking at her. She felt naked in that dress and that everyone was looking at her.

"You look so cute in that dress," Cassandra replied. "I think it really suits you."

"...don't like it..." Lara replied softly.

"It's strange...isn't it?" Siegfried said.

"Huh?" Lara responded as she looked up at the German warrior.

"For once, you actually look like a lady. That dress brings out your femininity. Even though blue is more of your color, green is nice on you too."

"K-keep your comments to yourself!" Lara said.

Lara let out a deep blush before she jerked her head away from Siegfried; too embarrassed to look at him. Ivy let out a small giggle as she signaled to her servants to bring over the dinner. As the evening went on, Ivy and Cassandra carried on a conversation which once in a while Siegfried got himself involved in. Lara looked at them as if they were puppets in a puppet show. She really wasn't feeling like herself at the moment. Her eyes were only focused at Siegfried. She felt herself well up with sorrow. _He really thinks of me as a burden, _she thought as she tried not to cry. _If that's all I am to him...then I don't need anyone to take me home...I'll go there myself._

She didn't want to eat any of the food, not because it wasn't delicious, but just because her throat couldn't swallow the food. Once everyone had finished eating, Lara excused herself from the table and headed off towards her room. However, instead of going directly to her room, she headed towards one of the windows. She opened it slightly and climbed out from the window. She kicked off her shoes and tried to climb up to the roof of the mansion.

Once she was on top of the roof, she settled down in a small area and looked up at the stars. She let out a frown as she felt tears coming up block her view of the stars. _Stupid Siegfried, _she thought as she let her tears roll down her cheeks.

_I risked my life showing that I'm his friend only to find out that he doesn't want me as that! Ungrateful bastard! Fine! I don't care about him! Not anymore! In the morning I'll leave this place and go home. My little village shouldn't be far from this harbor town. _The wind brushed up against Lara. She invited the wind to comfort her until something crawled out from her dress. Mr. Squeakers crawled out from her chest and climbed onto her left shoulders.

"You're...my only friend, right?" Lara asked Squeakers. "You'll never abandon me...or think I'm a burden...right? You wouldn't think of me as an annoyance or as beast...would you?"

Mr. Squeakers stared blankly at Lara. Lara just picked up the small chipmunk from her shoulder and cuddled him. She slowly began to lay on her back on the roof. Her sapphire colored eyes kept looking at the stars. She slowly rose up a hand to the sky.

"Father..." Lara whispered, "what should I do? I can't...avenge you...even if I tried I'm not strong enough."

Morning soon came. Lara had to sneak into her room to undress from the dress she hated a lot. Her dirty clothing were finally washed. She smiled a bit as she changed into her regular clothing. She placed Mr. Squeakers inside of her shirt and armed herself. Instead of walking out from the front door, Lara climbed out from the window and climbed down from the building. Once she had hit firm ground, she ran off towards the northwest road.

Cassandra had finished dressing in her regular attire and was ready to do some sparring. However, she was a bit concern about her friends. _I feel like something bad happened or at least will happen soon, _she thought. Cassandra opened the door to her room to see a servant who was about to knock at her door.

"Oh, Lady Cassandra," the servant said, "Lady Ivy has requested you to join her for breakfast."

"Oh, alright," the blond warrior replied.

"It is strange," another servant said.

"What's strange?" Cassandra asked.

"I've been calling out and knocking at Lady Lara's door but she won't answer. Perhaps she woke up earlier than everyone else."

"Perhaps..."

Cassandra walked back into the dining area where Ivy and Siegfried were waiting for her. One of the servants had approached Ivy.

"Lady Ivy...we can not find Lady Lara anywhere," the servant said.

"You can't be serious," Ivy said.

"It's true. We searched all over the manor as well as the acres. There is no sign of her. Even her room didn't have a trace of her left."

"My...how odd."

"Lady Ivy," another servant said as he ran in. "I saw Lady Lara leave the manor not too long ago. She headed off towards the northwestern road."

"Hm, that's to a small village called Cheddar," Ivy responded as she looked over at Siegfried. "Well...what do you think we should do? Perhaps that's her hometown."

"If she left this place then perhaps its better if we leave her be," Siegfried replied. "Its probably for the best anyway."

Cassandra didn't like the idea. She looked over at Siegfried and placed her hands on her hips.

"For the best?" Cassandra scowled. "You let a poor girl who's probably the only one that opened up to you go off to a village which you assume is her hometown and you're not going to do anything about it?"

"I was going to leave here here anyway." He said.

"That's terrible! I thought you were better than that Siegfried! I don't know about you, but I'm going to go after her. You can go ahead and leave on your journey, but I'll go find Lara."

"She's a burden and she will be one for you."

"At least I'm willing to give her a chance."

Without another word Cassandra left the dining area. She headed off to the front doors and marched right out. She found the path that Lara was taking and tried her best to follow the girl's trail. Siegfried looked out the window as he saw Cassandra run down the pathway. He narrowed his eyes as he looked away from the window.

"You know..." Ivy said softly. "You can go after them. I can tell that you are going to miss them...aren't you?"

"The only thing I miss is my solitude." Siegfried said as he almost glared at Ivy. "I'll be gathering my things and leave."

"So...my idea of us going together...you rejected it?"

"You're injured right now. Having you walk beside me will only endanger you further."

Siegfried stopped himself as he saw Ivy's blade right next to his cheek.

"You might have been Nightmare," Ivy hissed, "but I'm not weak! You made me your general for a reason. If you see women as weak creatures then you have a lot to learn. You can go ahead and search for a way to destroy the sword by yourself, but know this; when I am ready I'm going to go and hunt you down. I will take that sword away from you and destroy it myself. So you better be prepared to fight me again. This time, I am not going to hold back."

"I'll be ready for you."

Ivy pulled her sword away from Siegfried. She allowed the German warrior to go to his room to gather his things. Once Siegfried had managed to pack up his swords and don his armor, he walked out from his room and through the mansion. Once he reached the front door, he thanked Ivy for her hospitality and headed off to the harbor.

Once the blond had arrived at the harbor, he stopped by the local pub. He was now stumped at what to do and where to go next. All he had as a clue was now gone. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his golden locks. _Where the hell do I go from here? _He thought. _Should I go back to Osthreinsburg?Perhaps I might be able to find a clue there, even if its a small one. _

Siegfried took a good look at his right hand. He jumped back a bit as he thought that for a split second that his hand looked like that claw. He shook his head before he turned to leave the pub. He knew that his next destination was going to be Osthreinsburg Castle. Just as he was about to leave, a conversation had managed to catch his attention.

"And then...I saw him," a man inside of the pub said. "He was a huge man with dark skin. He was dressed in white and stood quite tall. Never saw a man like that before."

"Never heard of such a man before," his companion said.

"One thing that's for sure. I wouldn't want to be messing with him. He was carrying a large scythe and a rather big book in his hands."

"When did you see this guy?"

"I saw him two nights ago. He was heading northwest when I last saw him. I think that's the direction of Cheddar."

At this point, Siegfried's hair stood on end. He quickly walked out from the pub and began to run towards the direction which Cassandra and Lara took. _Damn it! _He thought. _I hope those girls haven't bumped into him yet. _Just then, Siegfried felt a very strong and malicious aura. At first it was weak, but the more he ran towards his destined direction the stronger it got. _I better not be too late!_

Lara looked at the entrance of the small village. She let out a sigh as she took a couple of steps inside of the village. She noticed that it was quiet...perhaps a little too quiet for their own good. Even though the village had several homes as well as acres of agriculture, she couldn't make out a single trace that someone lived there. As Lara continued to walk through the village she stopped as she felt something go squish from under her feet.

She looked down to see three dead chickens on the ground. Lara jumped back a bit. _How can anyone leave chickens dead like this? _She thought. _More importantly...where is everyone? _Lara passed through a small farm. The crops were all dried up, as if they haven't been watered in the longest time. The windows of the small house next to the farm were all broken and shattered. _What happened here? _

Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame the girl. She clutched her throat as she felt it burn up like crazy. Lara fell on her knees and began to cough violently. Once she managed to stop she noticed a small puddle of blood on the ground. She placed a hand on her lips and saw blood. _What's wrong with me? _She thought. A small rumble caught Lara's attention. She quickly ran to a rather familiar house and opened the door slightly.

"Mom?" Lara called out as she opened the door. "Mom...I'm home now."

Still no answer came. Lara closed the door behind her. She noticed that the small dining area which doubled as the kitchen and common room was quite dirty and dusty. A strong but strange odor filled the area. Lara's nose cringed as she tried to ignore the smell for now. She heard a soft rustling coming from her parents' room. She slowly walked over to the room and opened the door. Inside of the room was a middle aged woman. Her back was turned on the door, however, Lara could tell that it was her mother. The the tangle mess of hair that her mother had, Lara knew that something was wrong. Lara's mother shook violently, causing her dark blue dress wave like a flag of some sort.

"Mom," Lara said softly as she approached her mother. "Mom, I'm home. I need you to tell me what happened."

"Oh..." Lara's mother let out, "my darling husband...he was murdered..."

" know that. That happened years ago. I tried to go and kill Nightmare, but...I couldn't. He was too strong."

"The devil hides behind the mask of an angel. Though this demon hides behind such an angelic face, I can still see the wings on its back."

"Mom..." Lara let out as she felt fear rising up on her body. "What are you talking about? You're really starting to make no sense here."

"I...I gave birth to a monster! She hides behind the face of an angel! I saw her...covered in my husband's blood!"

"Mom! When did you have another child? You only had me. Dad died and you never remarried." Lara placed a hand on her mother's shoulder.

On that moment, Lara's mother shook. She quickly turned around to face her daughter. Lara's mother didn't look like herself at the moment. Her face was ghostly pale and her eyes were pure white at this point. A strange purple glow began to form around her body. The once white apron that she had on was stained with blood. In her hands was a rather large kitchen knife.

"You have it, don't you?" Lara's mother said in an eerie voice.

"W-what?" Lara let out as she slowly began to back out from her mother's room.

"You little bitch! Give me what you have! It's because of that thing you managed to kill my husband!"

"Mother! Stop talking nonsense! I didn't kill Father! Nightmare did! What's wrong with you? Why are you...?"

"Shut up, demon!"

Lara's mother let out a howl as she rushed at her daughter. Lara jumped out of the way, but managed to get slashed by the knife. Blood leaked from her shoulder. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes as she saw her mother attacking her. It wasn't the same mother she used to know, but rather something different.

"Give me...the shard!" Her mother yelled out as stabbed close to Lara's neck.

"Mother...please...stop..." Lara whimpered as she fell on the floor.

_And so ends the chapter. I hope no one kills me for this one. I love making you guys wait, but I shouldn't be too evil. Next chapter will truly have some plot things going on. Til then!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey there. Hehe, Yeah I've been bad into not updating all this time. Been busy with 3D modeling and stuff. Its hard stuff I have to learn. Anyway, here's another chapter._

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Six: The Dead Village**

"What's wrong, Mother?!" Lara shouted as she tried to take out the knife from her body. "Why are you doing this?"

"You little demon!" Lara's mother howled as she fell on Lara and applied more pressure on the knife. "Give me that shard!"

"What are you talking about?! I don't have anything!"

"Liar! You were born a monster now you will die a monster."

Tears started to roll down from her eyes as she began to see her life flash before her eyes. She began to see everything from the time she was a little girl until that night when Nightmare attacked her village. However, even though she remembered most of what happened that night, more scenes Lara didn't remember began to come into play. She saw herself outside of her house. She was covered in mud but more importantly in blood. She looked down at her bloodstained hands and trembled. In her right hand was the same dagger she was using to fight but it was covered in blood. _What have I done? _She thought as tears fell down from her face.

"Lara!" a voice shouted in the real world.

Lara snapped out from her flashback as she saw another shadow come into play. Lara's mother looked up at the intruder and let out a hiss. Suddenly, she was knocked off from the teenaged girl and on her back. Lara looked up to see the friendly face of Cassandra. Cassandra extended her arm to help Lara get up from the floor. Lara took it with much happiness and got up on her two feet.

"Mother!" Lara shouted. "Please...we can try to settle this. I know you're mad at me for running away..."

"Mad...at you? For running away?" The elderly woman got up on her knees as she eyed both girls. "The day you ran away was the day I rejoiced for your father. Give me your shard!"

"Lara, move!" Cassandra yelled as she pushed Lara out of the way and faced the mother. "This woman is not your mother. Can't you see the dark aura rising from her? She's no longer sane...nor is she longer living."

"What?! What happened to my mother?!" Lara shouted as she grabbed onto Cassandra's leg.

"Lara let go!"

Lara's mother got up from the floor and rushed at Cassandra. The force and weight of her body, knocked the blond off from her two feet and down to the floor. Cassandra and Lara's mother struggled to get their weapons into their opponents and the other's weapon away from their own body. Lara's mother began to inch her way towards Cassandra's neck. Cassandra tried her best to pry away the older woman but the inhuman strength she had was getting to her.

Just then Lara jumped her mother and tried to get the knife away from her mother's hand. The elderly woman let out a snarl as she tried to knock her daughter off. Cassandra took the opportunity to knock Lara's mother off and get up on her knees. She then took her short sword and stabbed the woman in the chest. Lara's mother let out a death groan before her eyes rolled back. Lara let out a yell as she knocked Cassandra off from her mother.

"Why did you do that for?!" She shouted at the blond.

"I helped you! Don't you see? This woman isn't your mother anymore. Take a good look at her." Cassandra moved Lara's mother a bit to show both the gaping wound she gave her as well as another one. It was then that Lara noticed that her mother's wound didn't look fresh. No blood came out of her as if she had bled all if it a long time ago.

"Wha? How could this have happened?"

"Someone must have killed her. I've seen this before. Someone with a dark power must have killed her and revived her not as a human but as some sort of a mind slave."

"Mother..." Tears began to well up in Lara's eyes as she eyed her dead mother. "She...she didn't act like this when she was alive...but...what did she mean when she said I was a monster and that father would have wanted this?"

"It was probably nothing. Just something she would have said something under the influence of this dark power."

"What is this dark power?" Lara asked.

"There can only be one thing that could have caused this…the power of Soul Edge. I've seen it before from my sister…and her children. It wasn't as severe as what happened to your mother but I can tell what it was. There is nothing you can do to reverse the effects on the dead or so Sophitia said so. We should go now. Everyone is worried about you."

"Even Siegfried."

Cassandra didn't want to answer that one. She just nudged Lara to follow her out of the house and back to Ivy's house. Lara frowned as she followed Cassandra out from her house. She took one last look at her dead mother before she left towards the village's main road. As the two young women headed down the road, they noticed that they weren't alone. All around them many villagers came out from their houses and head towards them. Everyone of them were chanting something about a Soul Edge shard.

"Cassandra," Lara whispered as she nudged her friend. "We're not alone. The villagers are coming."

"I know," Cassandra replied as she placed a hand on the handle of her sword. "If anything happens we cut through the villagers. Ready your weapon because we can't show them any signs of weakness."

"Cassandra…I'm scared."

"Don't be. I'm here so don't worry. I'm an experience warrior."

"…thank you."

As Cassandra and Lara walked towards the exit of the village, an arrow flew passed their heads and landed in at their feet. Cassandra slowly took her sword out as Lara took out her dagger from her small sheath. Soon the villagers rushed at them and jumped the two girls. Cassandra and Lara fought fiercely as they tried to cut their way through. Lara kicked an old man who was coming at her with a pitchfork. The old man fell on top of two other villagers.

Cassandra sliced through a villager and stabbed another as one got close to her. Using her shield, the blond warrior smacked a woman villager right in the face. Cassandra pushed her way through as dozens of hands began to hold her down. Lara began to bite and scratch the hands that were holding Cassandra until a couple of hands grabbed the younger girl by the waist and hoisted her up above her head. Lara shouted and struggled as the villagers began to take her away.

"Lara!" Cassandra shouted as she was being pushed by a couple of villagers.

"Cassandra!" Lara shouted as she extended her arms in hopes to reach her friend. "Put me down your bastards!"

Lara continued to bite, scratch, and stab the villagers. One of them dropped her legs down to the ground. Lara tried to run but her feet were still tangling an inch from the ground. Another villager took the place of the fallen comrade and began to carry Lara away. Just then Lara fell down to the ground. All the villagers that were holding her were cut down.

"You can't take care of yourself, can you?" A voice behind Lara spoke to her.

"Huh?" Lara turned around to see Siegfried above her. "Siegfried! You came back!!" Lara quickly got up from the ground and embraced the older man.

"Yeah… I came back."

"Come on, you guys," Cassandra shouted. "We have an opening! We have to go before more arrive."

"But…what will happen if they go to the other villages?" Lara asked. "Won't they kill those people too?"

"Soul Edge…" hissed one of the villagers. "Its here…"

"It seems like their attracted to my sword," Siegfried said as he placed a hand on the composite Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. "Cassandra, take Lara out of this village and head back to Ivy's place."

"But what about you?" Cassandra asked as she felt very worried for Siegfried. "You can't take them all by yourself, you can get killed."

"As long as their distracted from you two, that's all I need for reassurance. Cassandra, you're the only one who I can confined with to carry this out. Leave me and don't let Lara come back here. Go and stay at Ivy's. If I don't come back before sundown then I have died."

"Siegfried…"

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Lara shouted. "You may be strong but even you are mortal."

"Lara I'm not going to argue with you, just go! Now!"

Without another word, Cassandra took a hold of Lara's hand and ran out from the village, leaving Siegfried to deal with the possessed corpses. Siegfried growled a bit as he took out the composite Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.

"This is what you want, right?" He asked the corpses.

"Give it to us…" the villagers bellowed.

"If you want it…then you have to pry it off from my dead fingers."

Siegfried placed the composite sword behind his back and took out the Reqium. The villagers howled and hissed as they charged right into the German warrior. Siegfried swung his sword and took out villagers by the dozens. An arrow flew right into his left shoulder. He let out a yell as he ran towards the rogue archer. With one swing he managed to take out the archer.

Just as Siegfried was about to attack the oncoming villagers, something grabbed a hold of his legs. He looked down to see little children holding him down. All of them had white pupils that were covered in purple aura, much like the adults. Their faces were expressionless as they tighten their grip. Siegfried tried to shake them off but it was as if the children were made out of stone.

As he continued to look at the children, his mind was set into a race into the past. Siegfried began to remember what happened when he was Nightmare. He couldn't move his body, but he could see what was going on. He remembered the millions of screams that were emitted by children as his clawed hand would take a hold of them and back them apart.

Siegfried's eyes dilated as guilt began to rise once more. Even if these children were no longer part of the living he couldn't bring himself to take care of them. A punch to the face broke his chain of thoughts. The adults were no surrounding him. Each one of them began to take parts of his body and hold them together. One of the villagers began to beat on Siegfried while another one tried to take the composite Soul Edge sword.

One of Siegfried's eyes began to swell up from the beating. Blood began to trickle down from his mouth and forehead as the punches continued to rain upon him. _I can't do it, _he thought. _I can't attack anymore. Why is my guilt returning now? If I die…it is my own fault. I suppose I do deserve it. I really wouldn't mind of this is the end. _

Outside of the village, Cassandra and Lara were running back to Ivy's town. As the women were running, Lara began to slow down until she was stopped completely. Cassandra soon noticed that she wasn't running with anyone. She turned to see Lara looking back at the village. Cassandra shook her head as she took a hold of Lara's arm and tried to pull her away.

"Come on," Cassandra said as she yanked on the raven haired girl's arm.

"I'm worried about Siegfried," Lara said as she tried to pull away from Cassandra. "He could be in danger and might need our help."

"But he told us specifically not to go back. He risked his life for us."

"When have you followed anyone's rules? Didn't you tell me a couple of days ago that the sword you're carrying is your sister's sword?"

"Y-yes," Cassandra said as she patted Sophitia's sword.

"Then we should go and help him! I'm not leaving him behind!"

Cassandra looked at Lara. Tears were threatening to fall from Lara's sapphire colored eyes. Cassandra let out a sigh before she placed a hand on Lara's shoulder and nodded. Lara wiped away her tears and smiled at her. Both girls soon rushed back to the village to go save their friend.

A female villager took a hold of one of the pitchforks and threatened Siegfried with it. Siegfried didn't seem to notice it as he closed his eyes and looked at the sky. Slowly, he shifted his eyes to the woman before him as she pulled the pitchfork back and lunged it towards Siegfried. The woman soon stopped as blood fell from her mouth. Two blades were sticking from her body put soon disappeared as the woman fell down to her knees. Lara and Cassandra stood in front of Siegfried.

"Lara? Cassandra?" Siegfried asked.

"You can't take care of yourself, can you?" Lara chided as she smiled at Siegfried.

Lara and Cassandra continued to fight off the villagers while Siegfried recuperated from his guilt. He was soon able to knock the children off from his legs and attack them. He couldn't be able to save them so the best he could do is let them rest in peace. Lara and Cassandra continued to fight off the other villagers. The battle continued. It was almost evening when the three companions had managed to give peace to the entire village.

By that time, Siegfried felt a huge surge of power rise up. He felt his right hand begin to tremble. He looked over at it. He let out a snarl as one of his eyes began to glow bright yellow. He felt like the urge to kill. _Siegfried…_a voice whispered in his head. _Siegfried…kill…kill._

"Kill…" Siegfried hissed between clenched teeth.

Just then a pair of smooth arms wrapped around his neck. Lara trembled as she held Siegfried close to her.

"Siegfried, I'm sorry," Lara cried as she looked at the blond warrior. "I'm sorry for disobeying you, but I had to come back for you. I'm sorry that you had to get hurt. My village…they weren't like this and I'm sorry for running away. I'm sorry…I'm sorry."

Lara let out a squeal before she began to cry uncontrollably. Siegfried's surge soon died down. His eyes turned back to their original blue color and his hand stopped trembling. He slowed turned his head to see the tiny teenager hugging him while crying. His eyes soon moved over to Cassandra who gave Siegfried a small smile. Siegfried slowly looked back at Lara. He slowly moved his right hand and placed it on Lara's head. Lara gave off a small shiver before she relaxed.

Cassandra gave Siegfried another look hoping he'd get the message. Siegfried soon moved both of his arms and wrapped them around Lara, reassuring her that he was okay and that he wasn't angry at her. Cassandra walked beside them and placed her hand on Siegfried's shoulder. She smiled at him. Siegfried felt a blush come over him due to the embarrassment of holding a girl while having another girl smile at him.

"Alright…let's go back to Ivy's for the night," Siegfried said.

"Um, there is one problem," Cassandra replied as she pointed at Lara. Siegfried looked down at the teenager only to find her asleep in his arms. Lara had exhausted herself due to the fighting and then the crying. Siegfried let out a moan as he rolled his eyes. "Help me hoist her up on my back."

Cassandra helped Siegfried hoist Lara up his back. Once she was in position, Siegfried placed his arms underneath her legs. Lara's arms were tangling from Siegfried's shoulders. Her head rested on his right shoulder. She lightly snored as Siegfried and Cassandra walked out of the village and down the road. The sun was setting quite quickly so both warriors had to hurry before it got dark since they didn't have any light with them.

"You know," Cassandra giggled, "its kinda cute to see this."

"See what?" Siegfried asked as he quickened his pace.

"You holding her like that. Its like seeing a father holding his daughter."

"Feh…she's far from what I'd want in a daughter."

"Heh, maybe she's what you want in a girlfriend."

"What?! What did you say?"

"Heh heh, nothing."

"No, you said something," Siegfried retorted. "What did you say? If you think I'd want a foolish girl like her as my beloved you're crazy."

"Oh? Then what kind of beloved are you looking for?" Cassandra joked with a sly look in her face.

"Wh-why do you want to know?!" Siegfried looked away from Cassandra. "Stop making fun of me!"

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if you were open with your feelings or not."

"Whatever."

Night soon came. Luckily, Siegfried and Cassandra had reached Ivy's mansion in time before it got too dark. Ivy was surprised to see them return and injured, but she welcomed them into her home. Siegfried had placed the passed out Lara on one of Ivy's guest beds. He sat at the edge of the bed as he waited for Cassandra and Ivy to come back with medicines and bandages.

Ivy and Cassandra began to look for the medicines all over the mansion when they found them, Ivy ordered Cassandra to bandage herself first before they get to the others. Cassandra dragged a bit before she agreed and allowed the older woman to heal her. Taking up strange looking liquids, Ivy placed some special ointments on Cassandra's torn skin. Cassandra let out a howl of pain before she withstood it and placed ointment on her other wounds. Once she was done, both women headed over to the room where Siegfried and Lara were.

"Hey," Cassandra said as she walked inside of the room.

"You're finally back," Siegfried replied.

"We had to search all over for the medicine," Ivy responded as she placed a couple of bottles of weird potions on the wooden table near the bed. "Now, you're going to have to take off your shirt. It looks like you bled there as well."

Without any complaints, Siegfried did as he was told. Once he was shirtless, both Ivy and Cassandra tended to his wounds. The ointment stung yet gave off a cool refreshing feeling for Siegfried. Yet as they continued to patch him up, he couldn't help but think of things. He still recalled the attack that happened at the village. _Those people, _he thought, _they were under the spell of Soul Edge. They were dead and anyone should have been able to smell the putrid stench of rotting flesh. Who did that? Only someone with a strong sense of Soul Edge could be able to do that. But who is the question._

"Um, Siegfried," Cassandra said.

"Hmm?" He replied as he looked up at her.

"Listen, this might not be the best time to bring this up, but there is something you should now." Cassandra took a bit of cloth and wrapped it around the German warrior's arm.

"What is it?"

"When I arrived to get Lara back, her mother, well her dead mother, said something about a shard of Soul Edge and that Lara had it."

"A shard of Soul Edge?" Siegfried looked down at the sleeping Lara. He closed his eyes to sense something but he couldn't sense anything. "That can't be. If she did have a shard of Soul Edge, my sword as well as myself could have been able to sense any energy. I can't sense anything at all from her."

"No…then I suppose they must have been babbling out nonsense. Why would Lara have a shard?"

"How do you feel now, Siegfried?" Ivy asked as she finished mending him.

"Like crap," the blond man replied.

"Heh, I knew you'd say that." Ivy picked up two small vials from the table. "You'll need to drink this. It will restore your health. Give the other one to Lara when she wakes up. Now, if you excuse us, you should go to your room. Cassandra and I have to mend the girl."

"Alright, thank you again, Ivy and Cassandra," Siegfried said as he took a small bow and excused himself out of the room.

Ivy let out a small smile as the man left. Cassandra closed the door right after him. Both women began to undress Lara and tend to her wounds. She had a few around her arm, a couple around her stomach, but a rather large gash around her left leg. Ivy's eyes narrowed as she knew that in order to close the wound she'd have to sew it up. Looking through her healing objects, she found a needle and thread.

"Hold her down," Ivy said. "She may be asleep, but that doesn't assure us that she will remain asleep. She'll probably start panicking once she comes to."

"Alright," Cassandra replied as she placed her soft hands on Lara's shoulders.

Once she was set, Ivy began to sew up Lara's leg. In her sleep, Lara winced. Her leg twitched a bit before she fell back into a relaxing pose. In a couple of minutes, Ivy had finished sewing up the wound. She bit right into the thread and tied it into a lose knot. Taking one of the potions, Ivy poured the liquid on the wound. At that moment, Lara let out a scream as she jumped up.

"Settle down," Ivy said as she tried to get Lara away from her leg. "Cassandra, I told you to hold on to her tightly."

"Sorry," Cassandra replied.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Lara whined as she tried to clutch her leg. "What's wrong with you?! That hurt!"

"You had a huge gash on your leg," Ivy replied. "If it wasn't for me, you might have bled to death or catch some disease which then a doctor would have to cut your leg off."

"Cut my leg off?!" Lara screamed as she tried to get out from the bed. "Don't cut it off!!"

"I'm not going to! Damn it!"

"Wait! Where's Mr. Squeakers?!" Lara asked as she looked around for her pet chipmunk. Laying on her shirt was Mr. Squeakers asleep. The tiny chipmunk was with Lara the entire time she and her friends fought the village, now it was tired. "Oh, there you are. Poor Mr. Squeakers. You must be tired."

"Say Lara," Ivy said as she tried to get the girl's attention again. "There is something I wanted to ask you. Where did you get that scar that's on your neck? You'd think a wound like that might have gotten someone killed."

"Scar?"

Lara brought her right hand up. She slowly placed it on her neck and began to look around for the scar. Once she felt it, her eyes widen. In a small amount of time, a lot of visions came to her. It seemed like her entire life flashed before her eyes. But soon began to slow down when it came close to the night her village was attack.

However, she saw someone she didn't remember from before. A girl who was about her age was standing next to her. Lara had been bleeding as the girl approached her. What captivated Lara the most about the girl was the fact that she had green hair, a strange color of hair she'd never seen on any girl before. Her purple eyes glowed like two jewels which were trapped by rocks. The green haired girl extended her hand before Lara.

The scene changed to the interior of Lara's home. Fire had been set to it as well as the entire village. Screams and yells echoed through the night. Sparks flew into the air as many swords were colliding together against one another. Lara whimpered as she sat on the wooden ground of her home. Chips from the ceiling fell down as the fire ate away the roof. Once again, in front of her was the same green haired girl.

"_I told you that you shouldn't have messed with me," she said._

At that moment, Lara held her head. She trembled and shook as a surge of pain arose from her throat and ended up on her head. She let out a scream as strange purple veins began to pop out from her body. Her blood began to rush like a rapid river. One last scream had rendered her unconscious. Cassandra tried to wake up Lara, but she couldn't. Ivy looked over at Lara's throat to find a dark purple aura swirling around. It eventually disappeared.

"This isn't good…" Ivy said.

_And so ends the chapter. I hope this chapter was quite a shock for you guys. Enjoy it, for next up will be even more battles, especially ones that involve Miss Ivy._


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey there. Heh heh, yeah I've been bad into not updating all this time. Been busy with 3D modeling and stuff. Its hard stuff I have to learn. Anyway, here's another chapter._

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Seven: The Man in White**

Ivy and Cassandra looked at Lara's tired body. Both had sensed that power before and both knew that it wasn't good on either side's part. Cassandra took out her shard of Soul Edge and placed it close to Lara's neck. The shard began to react as it glowed brightly. Ivy's eyes narrowed as she let out a hiss.

"This is not good at all," Ivy said. "This girl has it...and its embeded in her neck."

"How is it that we couldn't sense it before?" Cassandra asked.

"I don't know...I am not too sure why it couldn't be sense...but perhaps..."

"Perhaps?"

"No...forget it. I don't think it would work. However, the shard would explain why those villagers were after you in such a viscious manner."

"Should..we advice Siegfried?" Cassandra asked.

"That...I don't know either," Ivy replied as she moved away from Lara. "It would be wise to tell him about her...however he might want that shard out. If we try to take the shard out...we might kill her. The thing is louged right on her throat."

"So..what should we do?"

"As uncertain as I am, we are to, above all, never let Lara leave our sight. She could hurt herself and will have people after her...or worse...use the power of that miserable shard. Let's just patch her up and try to keep this quiet. When the time comes, we'll tell Siegfried."

Ivy and Cassandra made that pact before they continued to mend Lara and dress her. Once she was done, both women left the room and headed off towards their own rooms. It was a rather quiet night. Cassandra looked out her window to see the night sky. In the distance she saw a fire in the direction of Lara's old village. _I wonder what is going on over there? _She thought as she fell asleep.

The next day was a quiet one. When Lara awoke, she felt an enormous pain in her leg. She looked over at the sleeping figure of Mr. Squeakers and woke him up. The tiny chipmunk stretched itself out before it jumped on Lara's shoulder and climb down on her chest. Lara tried to walk normally, but the wound on her leg was strong. She let out tiny whimpers as she took steps down the hallway. Just then, Ivy strolled through the hallway. She met Lara eye to eye and noticed what she was doing.

"You shouldn't be out of bed right now," Ivy said as she tried to lead Lara back into her room.

"I want to see Siegfried!" Lara let out as she tried to stop Ivy from taking her away.

"He's quite well and is resting, I suppose."

"Can't I at least visit him? I promise not to wake him up."

"No! You're far to sick to move out of bed and should rest for a while."

"No!"

"Is something wrong?" Siegfried asked as he opened the door to his room and stepped into the hallway.

"Siegfried!" Lara chirped as she tried to run over to the blond warrior. Once she got to him, she hugged him tightly. "I thought something bad might have happened. I blacked out and all and you had me very worried! You jerk! Don't you ever go off and play hero like that ever again!"

"To tell you the truth," Siegfried replied. "I was kind of worried about you. I thought you were seriously injured but it seems to me that you're quite well."

"I'm well and I'm ready to go now! We should head off and find more clues about Soul Edge pieces!"

"Try to walk properly," Ivy said. "If she can walk properly then you can go." Ivy crossed her arms as she looked at the girl with stren eyes. Lara glared at her before she released her hold on Siegfried and tried to walk through the hallway. However, due to the pain in her leg she wobbled and walked in a zig zag pattern. However, she managed to straighten herself up and walked as properly as she could. However, it was too lat for her to convince Siegfried or Ivy that she was well.

"You're staying here for a while and that's that," Ivy said as she pointed towards Lara's room. "And you're staying in bed for a while."

"But..." Lara protested.

"Just do as you're told," Siegfried replied. "For once...do as you're told. The sooner you heal the sooner we leave and search for a way to destroy Soul Edge. If you don't hurry up and heal, I'll leave you behind...understood?"

"Y-yes..." Lara replied as she looked at the floor. _He finds me disposable...but I should have known it._Without another word, Siegfried walked down the hallway and disappeared as he turned the corridor. Ivy took Lara to her room. She was a bit surprise to see that the young girl wasn't hesistating this time. Ivy placed Lara on the bed and gave her the medicine that was designed for her. Upon drinking it, Lara coughed.

"Ew!" She spat. "This medicine tastes horrible."

"What did you think it would taste like? Chocolate?" Ivy said.

"What's chocolate?"

"Oh...not a lot of people know about that. Well...its a delicacy that came from the New World. It was brought here by Spanish monks and it is quite delectable."

"Do you have any right now? I want to try it!" Lara said as her blue eyes lit up with glee.

"Unfortunatly no. However, if you heal and I feel grateful, I will try to get some for you. Its really hard to find any and it costs quite a fortune to buy a pound of it. Now rest up. I'll fetch a servant to come and bring you your meals."

"Alright then..."

"Rest well, kid." Ivy said as she left Lara all by herself in the room. Lara looked up at the ceiling and began to reminesce about all that has been happening. She never would have guessed that leaving her home would send her to a much deeper adventure than she ever would have expected. She let out a sigh as she started to remember her home. The only thing that really bothered her was that night. She kept seeing that green haired girl again. This time, her features were clearer than ever. In the green haired girl's hand was something metallic.

"What was that thing?" Lara asked herself. "I remember that girl holding it...but why...not to mention who is she? I should know her...but part of me...ugh!" Lara groaned in pain as she felt a surge of pain rush through her head. _What's going on?! _She thought as she held her head tightly. _Why does it hurt so much? _Her neck began to glow brightly for a split second before it stopped. The pain soon disappeared at that moment, leaving Lara very confused about her condition. "What happened that night...?" Lara asked as she began to cough violently.

Siegfried's blue eyes opened widely as he felt a surge of Soul Edge. However, it was gone in a split second. He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to find any traces of it. However, he could not feel anything at all. _What happened just now? _Siegfried thought as he looked up at the ceiling. _Where did that surge come from? _

His movements had caught Cassandra's attention. She stopped eating her poridge. _He felt it too, _she thought. _Does he...suspect something? _Cassandra got up from seat and walked over to Siegfried. She took out her shard of Soul Edge and took in a deep breath. "Oh!" She said, "My shard reacted just now. I wonder why." Her words reached his ears as he turned around to see the tiny shard in her hands.

"I wonder if that's what it was," he said. "But why would it react just so?"

"Maybe its because you have the broken Soul Edge?" Cassandra asked.

"You're right. I forgot about that. What I'm confused about is why does the shard react so weakly around the sword?"

"I guess its because you weakened it. With a weak signal, that makes it harder for anyone to pick it up, however its still strong enough at a certain distance."

"We should hurry up before we get Ivy in trouble. I hope Lara heals quickly." Siegfried said as he looked over in the direction of the rooms. A week and a half would pass before Lara was somewhat fit enough to leave the mansion. The wound on her leg was her biggest problem. However with medicines and ointments, the wound healed quicker. So at least, Siegfried and his companions were to leave the Valentine Mansion. Siegfried, Cassandra, and Lara took whatever things they had and walked out the front door. Ivy stood there waiting for them.

"We're to leave now," Siegfried said to Ivy. "I thank you for your kind hospitality."

"Thank you for letting us rest here," Cassandra said as she smiled at Ivy.

"Thanks for the grub," Lara replied which earned her a hit behind her head from Siegfried.

"It was no problem. However, the journey for the three of you isn't going to be an easy one. I am not quite sure if you'll be alright without my aid."

"I don't want you to burden yourself with this curse..." Siegfried said. "You fell once into darkness...don't let yourself fall into again."

"That...I know, but I can't stay here knowing that, that sword is still intact. I dispise it with all my being. It trapped me once in its trance...I don't want to carry such a burden on myself for all I have done these years. I ask of you Siegfried, let me join your group."

"Ah Ivy," Lara said as she placed a hand on her arm. "You're a sweet sport, but I'm sure Siegfried will decli..."

"You're aid will be greatly appreaciated," Siegfried said. Lara's blue eyes widen as he lips formed into a frown. Her grip on Ivy's arm tighten a bit. "I'm sure with your aid we will finish this journey faster and more efficient. I know how much of a burden you carry on your shoulders...and I know how much it would mean to you if you did."

"Thank you...so much," Ivy replied. "I will be the best aid you'll have. Um...Lara...you're holding me a little too tightly."

The quartet left the mansion and headed to the port. With Ivy's help, the group managed to hop on the next ship that will take them to the mainland. However, without a single clue they had no idea of where to travel. The ship was heading towards a place known as the Netherlands which would be a good reason as to why the wind was getting rather chilly.

Lara shivered a bit from the cold air. She looked inside of her tiny cabin and picked up the dusty, old blanket. She covered herself with it and walked out from her cabin and towards the deck. She peaked through the door and saw Siegfried leaning against the rail of the ship; looking out into the sea. Lara smiled brightly as she took two steps towards him. However she stopped when she saw the figure if Ivy standing next to him.

Quickly, she withdrew back into the doorway and eavesdropped on the two fighters. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but the next thing that came out of Ivy's mouth had made Siegfried chuckle. It was very hard to make the blond German smile, much less laugh. And here was Ivy making the man whom no one thought could smile, laugh.

Lara, at that point, was breeming with jealousy. She didn't know why she was so envious of Ivy at that point. However, all she could think about was taking her weapon and strangle her with it. _Who does she think she is? _She thought. _There she is hogging Siegfried. Ugh! And that jerk! Why does he laugh around her and such! He never smiles at me or anything. Oh...I think I get it...its because she's got boobs and ass! I guess he only smiles at women that look like hookers._

"Lara?" Cassandra whispered softly.

"Nyagh!" Lara let out as her heart pounded hard. "Cassandra, don't scare me like that!"

"Heh, sorry about that," Cassandra replied sheepishly. "What are you looking at?" Cassandra looked over Lara's head.

"Nothing!" Lara hissed softly.

"Doesn't seem like nothing. You were looking at him, weren't you? Or were you looking at both him and her?"

"Oh come on! As if I'd spy on them."

"You're right..." Cassandra chided. "Why would you spy on them? After all, you respect lovers' time together, right? My...they do look like a lovely couple, don't you think?"

"Pah! If you call a vain relationship a couple, then yeah. He'd probably only like her because she's got tits and ass and she only like him before he's hot."

"I thought you cared about him."

"As if! He's a jerk who's inconsiderate about my feelings and thinks I'm a burden and likes only women who have the goods. I mean, look at that jerk! He's laughing with her and such. I tell you, he never did that once when I was around him. That poopie head! I hope something falls on his poopie head and squishes him!"

"Oh my..." Cassandra replied as she tried to supress her laughter. "You fancy him."

"Fancy?! As if!"

"Lara fancies Siegfried. Lara fancies Siegfried. Lara fancies Siegfried." Cassandra sang as she conducted with her fingers. Lara let out a growl as she protested about that. Both girls engaged in a play fight. However, the volume of their voices ascended enough for Siegfried and Ivy to catch on. Ivy walked over to the women and stopped the fight.

"What are you two doing?" She asked in a soft voice.

"Nothing!" Lara replied. "We were playing."

"Heh...Lara fancies Siegfried," Cassandra said in a playful voice.

"I do not!" Lara replied as she crossed her arms.

"Oh...you don't?" Ivy responded as she cocked an eyebrow. "Well...in that case, I hope you don't mind me taking him. After all, a man of that stature is hard to come by. Perhaps I should ask him if he would like to court once this journey is over."

"What!? You can't do that! I won't permit it!"

"And what are you going to do about it...little boy?" Ivy joked. It was then that Ivy had made making fun of Lara a new hobby of hers. Lara jumped on Ivy like a wild dog who hasn't been fed for days and attacked the girl. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders as she jumped into the fight as well. Siegfried looked at the display before he turned away from the fight with a rather unimpressed look on his face.

"I'm traveling with morons..." Siegfried said softly. "And here I thought Ivy was a smart and witty one...I guess not. Or maybe its because that kid is a plague of stupidity of some sort."

The rest of the day, Siegfried spoke with any passangers that were travelers and asked them if they found anything suspecious in the mainland or if they seen a man dressed in white. Most of them shook their heads in confusion. On the fourth day, Siegfried was about to give up asking anyone else on the voyage. He leaned against the rail of the ship and let out a stressful sigh. He kept his eyes on the ocean. His mind was lost in thought as he tried to figure out a solution his problem.

Just then a dark shadow loomed over him. The shadow slunk from behind him and walked over to his right. The silhouette was wearing a brown cape which kept most of the person's figure a mystery to the man. However, he managed to see a green glove on the person's hand. The silhoutte remained silent or a moment as if it was trying to come up with words to say to the swordsman.

"I heard that you are lost," the silhouette finally spoke in a raspy enigmatic voice. "You are looking for a man wearing white...yes?"

"Yes," Siegfried replied as he turned his body to the hooded figure. "Have you seen him?"

"Perhaps I did...perhaps I didn't."

"What was it? Did you see him or not?!"

"Calm down, you big galloute!" the hooded figure spat. Upon saying that sentence the tone of voice changed a bit. "If you want the answers, you're going to behave!"

"I...I apologize for my outbursts."

"That's better. I did so indeed see a man in white. A hooded man in white with a rather large scythe. You can't really see his features but his eyes...glowed yellow."

"That's the man I've seen. Do you know who he is?"

"No...however if you seek more answers you should go to Ostrheinsburg . There you will find your answers."

"Ostrheinsburg Castle?"

"I must be off. Don't kill yourself in the process...because everyone hates you." The hooded silhouette got on the railing of the ship then jumped off into the water. Siegfried grabbed the brown cloak, but the figure slid through it and fell into the water. Siegfried pulled up the now empty cloak and looked at the water for any signs of the figure.

He ran all the way to the end of the ship and waited to see if anything would emerge from the water. However, nothing poped up. It was if the figure sank to the bottom and stayed there. "Damn!" Siegfried cursed as he slammed his hand against the railing. He took a look at the cloack and noticed blood stains on it. "What...was that person injured?" He asked softly.

"You are a confused beast who has lost his way," spoke a deep voice. Siegfried turned around to see the same man in white standing behind him. "If you wish to find out more information about the sword, you will come to the giant clock tower in The Netherlands."

"Wait! Can't you just tell me what's going on?" Siegfried asked as he threw the cloak.

"I can't tell you that right now," the man in white pulled out a book from his cloack and showed it in front of Siegfried. "Besides, I don't think you're ready to read this book."

"That's...that's Ivy's book! The one that holds the secrets about Soul Edge! Give it back!"

"Soon...Siegfried Schtauffen you will learn more about the cursed blade." The man in the white cloack jumped up to the cabin. Siegfried protested for the man to explain to him more. However, the man in the white cloak jumped off from the cabin and disappeared. Siegfried let out a growl as he let two people who proably had the information about the blade.

However, with his new information he now had a set path on where to go. Sadly, he was given two choices on where to go. Knowing that the man in white has the book intact and the ship was on its way to The Netherlands, he confirmed that he will examine there first. After that he will go to Osrthiensburg Castle; the once place he dread ever returning to.

It would take two more days before the ship arrived at the port. Siegfried and his group got off the ship and headed towards the nearest inn. There the group rested and bought items that they would need later on. That evening, Siegfried headed down to the pub to have himself a drink, Ivy left the room to find a place where she can be alone, Cassandra left the room to see the sights, leaving Lara alone in the room with Mr. Squeakers.

The girl furmed at the fact that everyone had ditched her, however she wasn't completly furious. She actually found a new hobby that involved Mr. Squeakers. Taking out a small acorn from one of her pockets, she waved it in front of the baby chipmunk while she gave him a command.

Meanwhile, Siegfried had ordered a pint. As he drank away his worries he remembered one important fact: he didn't know how to get to the clock tower. He stopped his drinking and asked the bartender if he knew where it was. However, the bartender didn't know where it was either. Frustrated, Siegfried took a huge gulp from his drink then ordered another one.

"Heh, heh, heh," giggled a blond haired woman. "I can tell you where the clock tower is, ya."

"Really?" Siegfried said as he eyed the rather plump blond woman.

"Ya...however if you want me to tell you, you're going to have to pay me in one way or another."

"Name your price," Siegfried replied.

"Well..." the woman said as she wrapped her arms around Siegfried's neck. "With a handsome man like you...I wouldn't mind if you would..." the woman whispered in Siegfried's ear her request. Upon hearing it, Siegfried's blue eyes widen then he gave off a look of disgust as he shivered.

"I won't sink that low," he said.

"Bah! You're no fun! That's the easiest thing you could have done and it will only take an hour or so."

"I eat old dead animals."

"Fine then!" The woman cursed as she pushed Siegfried. "Forget the clock tower then." The woman began to walk away from Siegfried. However, a rough hand took a hold of her.

"Isn't there another form of payment?" he asked bashfully.

"Hmm..." the woman thought about it for a moment before something came up. "I will tell you...if you beat me in a drinking contest. No one has ever beaten Inga in a drinking contest."

"Alright then...Inga, we'll have that contest. If I win you'll tell me how to get to the clock tower."

"But...if handsome man loses, you'll have to give me your hand."

"My hand?" Siegfried asked as he looked at his hands. It took him a while before he figured out what she meant. "What?!"

"Its all or nothing, pretty boy! Or are you afraid of Inga?"

"Fine! Let's go!"

"Its a showdown! Hilda, the champion of our contest is being challenged by this new foreigner. The prizes are information about the clock tower and the union of these two in holy matrimony!" the bartender shouted as he prepared the drinks. Upon hearing that the small pub area huddled over to the show. Cheers and jeers sprang up from the room. Everyone had been rooting for whoever they thought would win. Bets were being made as everyone started to make jokes.

The bartender placed the drinks right in front of Hilda and Siegfried. As he released his hold from the pint's handles the competitors took a hold of their drink and gulped it down as if it were the water of life. The noise from the pub had disrupted everyone who had taken room upstairs, including Lara. Curiosity fancied Lara as she now wanted to know what was going on.

She picked up Mr. Squeakers and placed him inside of her shirt. She left the room and walked downstairs to see an entire mob surrounding the bar area. She walked over to the first person she saw and tugged on his shirt; trying to catch his attention. The man just brushed her away which upseted Lara. Lara kicked the man in the shin which really caught his attention.

"You little brat!" the man shouted as he hopped on one foot.

"I tried to get your attention the nice way, now you had to answer to the hard way," Lara said. "Listen, I want to know what's going on."

"Eh? Oh, some guy challenged Hilda to a drinking contest. He wanted some sort of information about the stupid clock tower and well, Hilda is the only one who's stable right now to give directions. But I think he will lose and end up being Hilda's husband. Good thing too...the gal needs a hefty man like him. Sad for him that he will end up with a woman that is probably not his type."

"Marry? Clock tower?" Lara's heart began to race as her mind could only think of one man who was foolish enough to do such a thing. She pushed the man out of the way to take a good look at who it was drinking. Sadly, the person she was thinking off was the man who challenged the woman. "Siegfried?!"

"Lara?" Siegfried said as he turned his attentioned to Lara.

"What are you doing?! Better yet, don't talk to me, just drink! Drink like crazy! You can't marry that fat cow!" Lara shouted as she pointed at Hilda.

"What?!" Hilda shouted as she stopped drinking her pint and slammed it against the bar. "You little bitch, I'd break you like a twig! You're just jealous that I'll marry a handsome man."

"For your information, Siegfried wouldn't touch you with a ten kilometer pole. You're ugly and you smell like ale and cheese." Lara crossed her arms as she said those words. However, saying such things to an extremely tempermental and large woman wasn't a wise idea. Hilda got up from her stand and punched Lara in the stomach. Lara clutched her stomach as she ran out of breath. However with the very little breath she had left she whispered to her shirt. "Mr. Squeakers, attack."

Upon saying those words, Mr. Squeakers jumped out from Lara's shirt and landed on Hilda's face. Hilda let out a scream as she tried to pry Squeakers off from her. Squeakers then scurried from her face and went down towards her wallet. The tiny chipmunk managed to take out some gold then jumped off from the large woman and back into Lara's shirt.

"Why you..." Hilda shouted as she was ready to lunged at the girl.

"Winner!" the bartender shouted.

"What?!"

"The new comer has finished his eight rounds, while you, Hilda finished seven," the bartender said.

"That...that's not fair! That little brat distracted me."

"Well for your own ignorance and blind fury, you failed to see that your opponent was by your side, not behind you." Siegfried said coldly. "Now if you don't mind, give me directions to the clock tower."

"Fine! But I hope you fall down from it! Damn...I would have ended up with a hot husband." Hilda said as she let out a sigh.

"You wish..." Lara scoffed.

"And who are you to him?"

"I'm his guardian. I protect him from bad girlfriend choices!" Lara said as she got up and placed her hands on her hips. Then the girl whispered, "Especially Ivy."

"Loud mouth urchin. Anyway, I will tell you where the clock tower is, so you better listen up." Hilda directed the group on where to go to find the clock tower. Siegfried thanked her humbly, however that wasn't enough for Hilda. She took a hold of the German warrior and gave him a big smooch on his lips. Lara fell into shock. She was appalled by the movement and wanted to strangle Hilda at that moment. Hilda just laughed as Siegfried took a hold of Lara and dragged her into their room.

The next day, the group set out to find the clock tower. It had taken them the entire morning to find it. Once they did, they all tried to find an entrance to the tower. As soon as Siegfried stepped inside, he almost lost balance as the platform he was on moved. He noticed that the platform was a gear from the clock. Ivy jumped on the gear as well. Cassandra and Lara looked at each other and nodded as they both jumped on the gear.

Siegfried jumped to the next gear as soon as he was close enough to jump on it. The girls followed Siegfried as he lead the way towards the top of the towering gears. Once he made it to the largest gear, he stopped to examine the area. Nothing but the sound of ticking could be heard. _Was this a joke? _He thought. _That man told me that he was going to be here. Or maybe...its a trap._

At that moment, Siegfried rolled from where he was standing. The German warrior barely missed a giant gear that was about to run over him. He growled as his instincts didn't lie to him. The compsite Soul Edge and Soul Calibur let out a strange glow. _Someone with a strong power is here, _he thought. From far away, the clocked figure walked out from the shadows.

"You've held that sword long enough," he said in a deep voice. "Your purpose is fullfilled, there is no need for you to carry that anymore." The man jumped from where he was standing and landed on the gear. "I see that you are stronger than I imagined."

"Alright!" Siegfried spoke. "Tell me who are you and give me the book!"

"Heh...I am a man who has many names," the hooded man spoke. "But you can call me Zasalamel. You have done well to protect those blades for a long time now. You want the book, right?" Zasalamel took out Ivy's book from his cloak.

"Yes," Siegfried replied as he reached out for it.

"Then..." Zasalamel said as he placed the book on the ground. He took out his scythe and slashed it in half. Then he kicked the book off from the edge of the gear.

"No! You bastard!"

"Is that the rage that you used to create the Azure Knight? I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to destroy the blades...not yet. Hand them over and your life will be sparred."

"Never!"

"It is a pity," Zasalamel said as he readied his scythe. "You could have started a normal life...or as normal as you could make it." Siegfried glared at Zasalamel before he took out the Requiem and attacked Zasalamel.

_And so ends the chapter. I hope it was an okay one. BTW, I made Siegfried a pimp! XDD He's surrounded by women._


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey there. Heh heh, yeah I've been bad into not updating all this time. Been busy with 3D modeling and stuff. Its hard stuff I have to learn. I finally caught a break and wrote this chapter in no time. I hope you guys like it. Anyway, here's another chapter._

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter Eight: Ostrheinsburg**

Ivy, Cassandra, and Lara were climbing up the gears as fast as they could. Cassandra almost slipped from one of the gears but was saved by Ivy. Lara on the other hand didn't seem too fazed by the gears and climbed up them as if she were some sort of a squirrel. The only concerned she had was to catch up with Siegfried and find out who that man was.

A strange surge of power rise up in her body. Lara felt a bit more agile and it seemed with every gear she climbed, it seemed less and less trouble for her to do so. Ivy and Cassandra looked on at the girl with much amazement. It seemed that she would reach the top of the gears in no time.

Siegfried slashed at Zasalamel with a strong blow, but Zasalamel blocked it with his scythe. The dark man then used his shoulder and pushed Siegfried off balance. Once he managed to have an opening, Zasalamel slashed right at Siegfried's armor. The blade of the scythe managed to slice right through the light armor that Siegfried was wearing. However, the blade barely missed any of Siegfried's flesh.

_Damn he's strong, _Siegfried thought as he touched the area where his armor was ruined. _However, I can't lose to this man…no matter what._ Siegfried braced himself as he swung his blade. Zasalamel blocked the swing, however, Siegfried had a trick up his sleeve. In a swift movement, Siegfried slid his blade from the blade of the scythe, twirled and swung his sword around. Zasalamel barely had time to react. Siegfried's sword managed to cut his at his right shoulder.

The dark warrior, Zasalamel recoiled. Placing his hand he touched his shoulder and felt a cold liquid. Moving his hand, he looked over at the blood that was on his fingers. _Yes…I see now, _he thought. _You are strong, but with your strength you will not be the one who will grant me eternal rest. _"Foolish man," he spoke softly, "you think you can kill me? You are a bigger fool than I imagined." Zasalamel swung his scythe and plunged it right on where Siegfried's armor had a gaping hole. Upon the impact of the blade, Siegfried dropped his sword as he was lifted into the air by the scythe and was brought down hard on the ground.

Lara managed to reach the gear in which the battle was taking place. She quickly pulled herself up on the gear and sat down. "Damn, that was hard," she said in between gasps. However, Lara didn't rest much as she looked over at Siegfried on the ground with Zasalamel hovering above. Zasalamel rose his scythe up over his head.

"You fought well," he spoke in a low voice. "But not well enough. Do not fret about the cursed sword. I will make sure to make good use of it."

"No!" Lara shouted as she rushed over to Zasalamel. Taking out her dagger from her belt, Lara managed to slash right at Zasalamel's left cheek. Zasalamel moved away from both Siegfried and Lara as he caressed his injured cheek. Blood dripped from his new cut. He wasn't amused by the movement as he looked at the girl. However, he examined the girl as he felt a strange surge of power rise up from the girl.

_This child has a shard of Soul Edge, _he thought. _I can feel it pulsing right now. I wonder how come I didn't sense it before? Could this child not really care about power? If so why does she have a shard on her? Either way, she doesn't seem like much of a threat but rather…an obstacle in resurrecting Soul Edge._ "You are a very unfortunate child," he spoke in a deep voice. "To have that curse around your neck. You are not something for me to worry about, but you certainly will be a bother."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Lara shouted. "You're not making any sense to me!"

"So you don't know…perhaps its best for not to know." Zasalamel turned his attention over to Siegfried. "You are a strong being, but you are cursed. Let me tell you one thing…that sword will be mine. Your purpose has already been served and there is no need for you to carry that blade. And with that, I put a curse on you. Let's see if you are strong enough to handle it."

In that instance, Zasalamel fled into the shadows and disappeared leaving both Lara and Siegfried confused. Just then Cassandra and Ivy had reached the final gear. Lara kneeled right beside Siegfried as he sat up. He felt a sharp pain on his chest however, he didn't see any blood. "That man must have only scraped me," he said in a low voice.

"Siegfried are you okay?" Lara shouted. "You jerk! I thought you were going to die!"

"How am I a jerk if he was about to kill me?" Siegfried asked.

"You…you just are! You had me worried sick! I don't know what I would have done…if you died…"

"What's with the sudden change of tone?" Siegfried asked as he eyed Lara questionably.

"Nothing! There is no sudden change of tone! A jerk like you doesn't deserve any affection from me!" Lara replied as she crossed her arms and looked away. A slight blush managed to taint her dirty cheeks.

"Siegfried…are you alright?" Cassandra asked. "You don't seem injured."

"I'm fine, Cassandra," Siegfried responded. "That scythe missed me by a bare inch. All it is, is nothing more than a flesh wound."

"What about the book?" Ivy asked as he looked around the area. "Did you get it back from that man?"

Siegfried looked away from Ivy in shame. "I couldn't…" he said. "He destroyed the book before I could get it back."

"Damn!" Ivy cursed. "There went years of knowledge about the blasted sword. Sad to say most of the information that was on the book I did not memorize much. I wish I could have memorized the entire book by memory."

"No…it is not your fault, Ivy," Siegfried said. "However we can't just sit here and mope about it. We have to search for any clues whatsoever about destroying the blade."

"But where do we go from here?"

"That…I don't know. That man…he seems to know a lot about the swords. He seemed very desperate to take them from me. If we could hunt him down we might be able to find information."

"However if we pursue him," Cassandra spoke, "wouldn't he be expecting that from us? Meaning wouldn't it be a trap if we follow his ruse?"

"That is a good point Cassandra. But we can't just walk around this earth blinding. Perhaps…we should head towards Ostrheinsburg Castle. Maybe we could find something there. That is where a lot of things have happened which involve Soul Edge."

"Then to Ostrheinsburg we go!" Ivy said.

The group managed to leave the Netherlands and head towards the area of the Holy Roman Empire. It took Siegfried and gang about three weeks to finally reach the borders of Siegfried's homeland and the perimeters of Ostrheinsburg. It had been months since Siegfried had seen the castle itself. Looking at the stone walls and the crystal blue river that surrounds the castle made the German warrior shiver a bit. So many bad memories could be said about the castle and all of them he didn't want to remember.

As the group walked over to the castle gate, they all stopped as they noticed that the gate was broken. Ivy scoffed as she looked around to see if there was some sort of passage they could use aside from the gate. However, much to her disappointment, she couldn't find one from where they were standing. "Damn, I don't remember any other entrances," she said.

"I know one," Siegfried said, "but we're going to have to follow the river. To do that we'll need some sort of a raft to get us down the moat."

"I'll go see if we can find something to use," Cassandra said as she volunteered on this mission. Cassandra walked down the dirt path and began to search for an abandoned raft or anything that could pass off as a raft. Just then she saw a small raft on the ground. She smiled gleefully as she approached the raft and began to drag it back to her group. "I found something we could use!" Cassandra said as she showed the group the raft. "I just hope it can support all of our weight."

"We should try it out," Siegfried said as he placed the raft on the moat. "Ivy, Cassandra, Lara…get on." All three girls obeyed and got on the raft. The wooden raft was strong enough to support all three women. Next was Siegfried's turn. As soon as he got on the raft, it made a small dip but it didn't sink. It seem as if the raft had hit capacity. "As long as we don't move too much we should be okay," Siegfried said.

Siegfried pushed the raft and off the group drifted down the river. As they followed the flow of the moat, a shadowy figure looked on from one of the small broken bridges of the castle. Tira looked down at the group and smirked quite devilishly. Her eyes looked upon the figure of Siegfried and his composite Soul Edge Soul Calibur sword. "You…" she said in a dark voice, "you're still around and with that sword? I'll make you disappear." Just then she looked over at the other three companions. Tira had nothing to do with Ivy or Cassandra, however when she laid eyes on Lara her blood rushed through her body. "Could that be…?"

Before the raft passed one of the bridges, Tira jumped from where she was standing and landed gracefully on the raft. All four warriors let out a slight gasp as they saw Tira land on the raft. Tira looked maniacally at the group as she shook her giant chakram. "Heh heh," Tira giggled at the group. "I think you've had enough time with that sword." Tira's mood suddenly changed from a gleeful girl to a rather dark and angry expression. "I'll make you disappear from the face of the earth!"

"I see that you're going to be a problem," Siegfried said as he took out his Requim. "Are you with the man in white?"

"That's funny…" Tira replied as she giggled. "I know a man in white but I'm not with him. I have only one master and I came here to do his bidding. Give me that sword and then I'll cut you into pieces."

"Don't people usually give you either or choice?" Cassandra asked in a cocky tone as she took out his faithful sword from its sheath.

"May…aren't you a cheeky one," Ivy said as she took out her weapon. "I think I'll show you some manners."

Tira looked quite angry as she looked at Ivy and Cassandra. She looked at the raft as it started to sink a bit due to weight. "Hmm…" she said in a playful tone. "I think you two are too heavy and I have nothing to do with you. Of course I wouldn't mind seeing you two dead and decaying but right now I have more important things to do." With that, Tira flipped over to Cassandra. She placed her large chakram on the raft, pulled herself up, and kicked through the hoop. She managed to kick off Cassandra and threw her into the water.

Tira soon turned her attention towards Ivy. Ivy extended her blade into its whip form and tried to whip the green haired girl. Tira moved out the way and swung her steel ring at Ivy. Ivy pulled away from the weapon, but was very close to the edge of the raft. Using this opportunity, Tira pushed off Ivy into the water and giggled uncontrollably.

Ivy emerged from the water. She looked over at the raft which was quite a way away from her. She felt her blood boiled as she was very unpleased with Tira's actions. "Ivy!" Cassandra shouted as she doggy paddled over to her companion. "You got knocked off too, eh?"

"I'm going to strangle that little brat when I get over there!" Ivy shouted as she began to swim towards the raft. "It's a good thing that I learned to do these strange movements from one of my servants."

"Wait up!" Cassandra replied as she tried to copy Ivy's movements.

Siegfried swung his sword at Tira with a mighty force. Tira simply backflipped out of the way. She then pranced around while swinging her chakram with ease. As she pranced around Siegfried, she managed to slash at him. Siegfried had to keep his eyes on Tira as she tried to take any chance to slash at him. _She's just toying with me! _he thought as he moved out of the way.

"Come on, Siegfried!" Tira said as she giggled. "Come play with me! Come on! Don't be a bore! If you don't play with me…I'll cut you to pieces!" Tira shouted as she twirled her steel ring at Siegfried once more. The blade of her chakram managed to cut few strands of blond hair and a bit of his cheek. Siegfried placed a hand on his cheek. He knew he was bleeding and ignored his injury for now. He ran up towards Tira and slashed at the girl. The tip of the Requim managed to cut a bit of the green clothing she was wearing. Tira touched the tear in her clothes before she ran up to Siegfried and slapped him quite hard on his injured cheek.

"You're such a pervert!" Tira shouted as she slapped him again. "You're not playing very nice!"

Siegfried pushed Tira away from him and gave her a swift kick to her side. Tira snarled as she clutched her side. Lara cheered on from where she was standing which in turn angered Tira even more. She glared at Lara then at Siegfried. Twirling her chakram she charged at the blond warrior and attack viciously. Siegfried's sword met with Tira's chakram on every blow except for the last one which cut at Siegfried's side.

Siegfried clutched his side. He slashed right at Tira's waist. Tira snarled as she ran up to Siegfried and pushed him off from the raft. Siegfried sank all the way to the bottom of the moat. Lara ran over to the edge and extended her hand. "Siegfried!" She shouted as she tried to look for him. "Siegfried!"

"Hah! I hope you drown!" Tira laughed.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Lara shouted as she took out her dagger.

"It seems like you have some bark. Let's see if you have some bite. Well…well…" Tira said in a gruff voice. "I guess it's just you and me…Lara."

At the bottom of the moat, Siegfried had been struggling to swim up to the surface. Due to his heavy armor, he couldn't even lift himself up from the ground. He quickly took off parts of his armor. With each second counting, he knew he had to hurry up since he was losing both breath and consciousness. He took off his breastplate as well as his iron boots. Just as he was about to take off his iron gauntlets, he lost his breath. Siegfried's body was not able to float up. He closed his eyes as he felt his heart drop. _Is this the end? _he thought as he tried to move. _I…I didn't want to die…not now. I have…to…_

As Siegfried linger in the darkness, he felt two pairs of soft hands grab onto his arms and pull him up from his dark abyss. Siegfried opened his eyes as he noticed he wasn't at the bottom of the moat but rather on the bank of the moat. Sitting next to him were Ivy and Cassandra. "Good to see that you're still conscious," Ivy chided softly.

"Wh…what happened?" Siegfried asked as he sat up.

"You almost drowned," Cassandra said. "Where's Lara?"

"Lara? Lara! She must still be on the raft with that woman!"

"How…did you know my name?" Lara asked as her grip on her dagger loosen.

"How did I know your name?" Tira replied. "Only I would know your name. After all…we are partners."

"Partners? I don't even remember you. Who are you and what do you want with me?"

"Who am I?" Tira chuckled as she paced back and forth. "Who am I? Are you really that stupid or are you playing around with me?! Don't you remember our promise?"

"Promise?" Lara said as she looked away from Tira. Her mind was still hazy as she tried to remember what was it that she had forgotten. It was some sort of a promise she did, but she wasn't sure if it was to this girl that was standing next to her. "I…I don't…"

"Shut up!" Tira shouted as she stomped her foot. "Don't tell me you forgot our promise. You made a pact with me to pledge yourself to restoring Nightmare, the Azure Knight, to his former glory!"

"Why would I make that pact?!" Lara shouted at Tira. "Nightmare killed my father!"

Upon hearing that, Tira's eyes widen. A rather strange smile appeared on her face followed by a rather dark laugh. "Nightmare killed your father?!" Tira let out as her eyes sparkled. "You really lost it since I've last seen you. Don't tell me you also forgot why you have a rather large scar on your neck. Ever wonder why you have it?"

Lara placed a hand on her neck. She took off her yellow scarf and touched her bare neck. She traced the strange scar with her finger tip from start to end. "This scar…it was an accident I had a while ago," Lara said in a rather confused tone as if she was not sure herself.

"Wrong," Tira said in a sing-song voice as she wiggled her finger. "I thought they would have told you by now…your companions. Ever wonder why you feel a strange surge rise up through your body every time you get angry? Or how you at times become a slight stronger and more athletic when you feel such hatred rise up through your body?" Tira placed her index finger on Lara's neck. "I gave you that gift. You said that you needed power to follow your own path and I gave you the greatest gift ever: a shard of Soul Edge. I placed it on your neck for one reason: to make sure you don't back stab me. I'll eventually need it back, but I promise I won't kill you in the process. I needed you to kill a certain amount of people to power up the shard…but for some reason you didn't. I guess that is why I wasn't able to locate you so easily. Since you are not using it, the power of that shard is so dormant."

"That…it can't be true!" Lara said. "I don't remember all of this!"

"I can't see why not. After all…it was easy for you to find Siegfried…wasn't it? Tell me…how did you find him?"

Lara felt her entire body shiver. "I…I had a strange feeling. I knew that if I followed it I might…find him?"

"That was the power of the shard. It was attracted by the power of the composite sword. However since its powers aren't what they used to be, it is hard to find it. Somehow you managed to find it. I'm impressed, but how can I not? After all…you are my partner."

Lara covered her ears. "I am not listening to this! How can I have…?"

Tira took a hold of Lara's shirt and jerked her close to her. "Listen to me, you idiot!" Tira hissed. "You can whine and moan about it, but it's the truth. Let me tell you about your father you sick little freak. You're the one that killed him! After I gave you the shard, you used it to kill your father. However, I guess after what you did you lost control of your mind. I guess that's what made you so stupid and you forgot everything. Even the promise you made to me! You are my servant!"

"I…I can't be…" Lara said as she felt tears threatening to form in her eyes. "You're lying! I can't believe you!"

"Believe what you want!" Tira shouted as she shook Lara. "But never forget that you are mine! Do your duty and start to collect souls for that blasted shard I gave you. Then I want you to bring me Soul Edge once I find a good host for our new Nightmare."

"I don't want to do it…I just…"

"You have to!" Tira shouted as she threw Lara across the raft. "You owe me your life. You are my servant and you pledged your life. You'll have to do your duty. And to prove that I am serious about this…I'll give you another present." Tira lifted her chakram over her head. In one swift movement, she brought down the steel right at Lara.

Blood splattered all over the raft. Lara looked down with her left eye as she saw a strange white orb near her body. Her body shivered as she clutched her right side of her face and noticed something missing. "Hehe," Tira giggled as she licked the blood off from her chakram. "Blood is sweeter when it creates misery. I hope having a new makeover will change your attitude. Remember it well."

"Lara!" Cassandra, Ivy, and Siegfried shouted as they were running the bank of the moat. The trio were catching up to the floating raft. Tira looked over at the trio and smirked.

"Looks like they came to get you." Tira said. "I want you to keep an eye on the Soul Edge sword. Make sure that no one takes it or that these three destroy it. Do you understand?" Just then a flock of black ravens began to take flight in the sky. They soon flew down at the duo and began to encircle Tira. Tira smiled once more before she disappeared along with the ravens, leaving a bloodied Lara on the raft.

"Lara!" Cassandra shouted as she approached the raft. "Oh my…hang on!" Cassandra took a hold of the raft and tried to stop it from drifting anymore. Ivy grabbed a hold of Lara and pulled her from the raft.

"Dear me…" Ivy said. "Looks like you had lost your eye. We have to mend her before she bleeds to death. Just hang on a bit. I'll take care of this." Ivy searched through her sack and pulled out a couple of needles and thread. She also took out a small bottle of what appeared to be wine. "Now…I need you to be a good girl and not to whine so much. This is going to hurt. Cassandra, I need you to cut a bit of her hair to make this easier on us. Parts of her hair is blocking her wound."

"Alright!" Cassandra replied as she took out a small dagger from her belt and began to hack away at Lara's hair. Once she had cut enough of her hair, she held Lara down as Ivy began to sew up Lara's wound. Lara cried and shouted as she couldn't handle the pain of the needle. The operation took them about an hour to perform before Lara was all sewed up. At this point, Lara had passed out due to lack of blood and shock which made Ivy's job easier. Taking the small bottle of wine, Ivy pour some of the wine on the wound to cleanse it from any germs. Taking a small roll of bandages, Ivy patched up Lara's wound. She looked over at her bloodied hands.

"This was quite a messy operation," Ivy said as she walked over to the moat and began to wash her hands.

"Is she…?" Siegfried asked.

"She's fine. She's just out. She'll probably wake up in a few hours. It will be best if we continue searching for clues. Cassandra should stay here to watch over her."

"I wonder who was that woman…"

"I don't know about you…but she certainly seemed to know Lara," Ivy said with a suspicious tone. "I wonder if Lara knows her as well. We can't think too much about it right now except that, that woman will be trouble for us if she's after Soul Edge as well."

"This…is my fault…" Siegfried said in a somber tone.

"It isn't your fault," Cassandra said in a reassuring tone. "We didn't know about it."

"Either way, we can't just sit here and mope about it," Ivy said. "Right now we should be searching for clues. If you want to avoid another problem like that, we need to train that girl to at least defend herself."

"Alright…" Siegfried replied as both he and Ivy left Cassandra and Lara to search for clues at the castle. Siegfried and Ivy searched the entire place from top to bottom, trying to find any clues. It appeared that the search seemed rather fruitless and the sun was setting soon. In disappointment, Siegfried let out a sigh. He was currently investigating the second floor of the broken down castle and remembered a certain area. As if he saw a faint shadow, he saw the entire fight he had with Raphael pass before his eyes. He remembered how he regained his sanity and threw off his azure colored armor and pierced the Soul Edge. Just then, it hit Siegfried. "The armor! I left it right here…but…where is it?"

"Siegfried!" Ivy said as she approached the knight. "Did you find anything?"

"I didn't find anything…it's more like…what I didn't find."

"What do you mean?"

"I remember…a couple of months ago when I was on the brink of my sanity, that I wore Azure armor. It was in this area that I took it off and broke free from the curse of Soul Edge. However…the armor is gone."

"The armor is gone?" Ivy replied. "Who would have taken it?"

Siegfried placed a hand on the ground and inspected it. He noticed that there were a couple of footprints on the ground and what appeared to be a set of footprints that appeared in one area. "Could something fallen from the sky?" Siegfried asked. "No…that's impossible. Could something…have risen from…the armor? I don't get it. Whatever happened here had something to do with the azure armor. I don't think its wise for us to stay here any longer. There is nothing for us here."

"What do you suppose we do now?" Ivy asked as both her and Siegfried were exiting the castle ground. "This was our only clue we have."

"I don't know what to do at this point…" Siegfried replied. "I'm sure we can think of something in the morning. As for now…we should turn in. I don't think we should go anywhere until Lara awakens."

Ivy and Siegfried approached Cassandra and Lara. Lara was still unconscious while Cassandra looked over at the water. Cassandra greeted the duo. "So…did you guys find anything?"

"Not much," Ivy said. "We're down to nothing now. We have no idea of where to go from here."

"We don't have much, huh?" Cassandra said. "At times like this…we should gather clues from crowded places. Adventurers tend to have information about places. I heard of a place, a coliseum you might say that houses a lot of warriors. I'm sure one of those people can help us. My sister, Sophitia, told me that in that area, there holds quite a bit of rumors and such. We are also short on funds…and well…"

"So you think we can kill two birds with one stone, huh?" Siegfried said. "We have no other choice…we'll follow what you say, Cassandra."

Having no other way to go and short on funds, Siegfried and the others, with the exception of the unconscious Lara, agreed to head towards the coliseum first thing in the morning. In the meantime, the group spent the remainder of the day searching for firewood. Once they got the fire roaring, they all began to cook whatever scraps of food they had left in their sacks. At that moment, Lara woke up. She noticed that it was already dark and that she was sitting next to a fire. Lara slowly brought herself into a sitting position.

"You're awake!" Cassandra said as she hugged Lara. "Glad you're okay."

"What…?" Lara placed a hand on the right side of her face. She felt the bandages.

"I patched you up…" Ivy said. "But I couldn't save your eye.

"I…I see…" Lara began to whimper. Tears dripped down from her face.

"Don't cry. It will make your right eye socket bleed since your nerves are still sensitive."

"I'm trying to…but I can't!" Lara said.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," Ivy said. "But can you tell me who the woman was. The one that did that to you. Does she know you and do you know her?"

"I…" Lara said as she held her head. "That woman…her name is Tira. She knows me…but I can't remember her. She told me about some sort of a shard that's on my neck. What did she mean by it? And if you guys knew why didn't you guys tell me."

"Shard?" Siegfried said as he looked at Lara. "Soul Edge shard? If you have a shard why hasn't it…?"

"It has been dormant," Ivy responded as she looked away from Siegfried. "Cassandra and I didn't want to alarm both of you since Lara knows nothing about Soul Edge and Siegfried…we really didn't know how'd you react to this."

"I'm rather upset about the entire thing…but now I'm concerned about that shard." Siegfried looked at Lara's neck. "To get it out without killing you will be difficult. We'll need some highly trained medic to do it. How in the world did you do this?"

"It wasn't me, it was Tira," Lara replied. "I don't know how she did it. But she did it."

"We'll worry about it later," Ivy said. "We don't have the tools or the funds to perform anymore operations on you. As for now we'll have to eat and rest. Tomorrow in the morning we'll be heading over to the coliseum in hopes of gold and information about the sword."

The entire evening was rather quiet. The entire group eat in silence. No one knew what to say to the other. Eventually they all went to sleep. Lara awoke in the middle of the night and looked up at the moon. She frowned a bit as she tried to remember that night. Vaguely, she remembered Tira and the shard. _Am I nothing more than her puppet? _she thought. In her head, Lara couldn't decide whether or not she should stay true to Siegfried…or stay true to Tira.

_Meep! I hope this was an okay chapter. I seemed to like it myself. Anyway, I'll try to update the next chapter within the next three weeks. Hopefully…_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey there. Heh heh, yeah I've been bad into not updating all this time. Been busy with 3D modeling and stuff. Its hard stuff I have to learn. I finally caught a break and wrote this chapter in no time. I hope you guys like it. Anyway, here's another chapter._

**Torn Apart yet Stuck to You**

**Chapter ****Nine****: ****The Coliseum**

Morning came too quickly. Cassandra was the first to awake from her slumber. As the young Greek girl stretched, she looked over to see Lara sitting up and staring at the sky as if waiting for something. By the looks of it, Cassandra could tell that her companion did not sleep at all. Crawling over, Cassandra sat right besides Lara. "Hey," she said softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Lara replied softly.

"You don't sound like it," Cassandra said. "You want to talk about it?"

Lara didn't reply. She didn't even move from her spot or even look at Cassandra.

"Come on," Cassandra said. "You can trust me. After all, we're good friends. If you don't want to talk about it, then that's fine. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. But if there is any trouble at all…you can always come to me."

"Really?" Lara slowly turned her head and made eye contact with her blond companion. "Do you promise?"

"Of course! I promise that no matter what I'll help you just as long as you stay Lara. Now…no more frowning. It doesn't suit you. The Lara I know doesn't frown or anything. So…how about a smile, huh?"

Lara couldn't help but giggle at Cassandra. She felt rather happy to know that at least she could always confine with Cassandra. Cassandra smiled sweetly as she accomplished her small little mission. She then noticed that Lara's bandage was rather dirtied by dry blood. _She was crying all this time, _Cassandra thought. "Hey," she said, "let's go wash that face. We don't want you to get any sort of disease or anything."

"Okay," Lara replied. Cassandra led Lara over to the small little stream. Slowly, she took off Lara's dirty bandages. Even though she did this as carefully as she could, just the slightest touches stung the younger girl's face. Once the bandages were off, Cassandra took a small piece of cloth and dipped it into the water. She twisted the cloth to get rid of any excess water then began to clean Lara's face. Even the slight touches made Lara uncomfortable. However she had to bite her lip and bare it.

Once she had finished cleaning, Cassandra bandaged up Lara with a clean wrap. Lara looked over at the water and let out a sigh. She placed a hand upon the bandage and frowned. "I guess," she said, "I'll…have to get used to this. At least things can't get worse than this…right?"

"I'm sure things are bound to get better," Cassandra replied.

"Yeah…"

Cassandra smiled as she hugged the younger girl. "Don't worry…we'll all be here for you."

"Yeah…I know as long as you and the others are here, I'll be okay. I just…don't want Siegfried to leave me behind again. I know he's worried about me….but I don't want to be left behind."

"Heh…I think leaving you behind isn't something he's looking for anymore. Now let's head back to our group."

"Yeah," Lara nodded.

Back at the camping ground, Siegfried and Ivy had awakened. Siegfried looked on at the distance. The sun was barely rising. He remembered when he used to look at the sunrise and enjoy it. Now, he couldn't bare to see it. _I don't deserve to look at something beautiful, _he thought. Just then, a shiny red apple appeared before him. Ivy had her hand extended in front of him and smiled. "You need to eat something," Ivy said.

"I appreciate it…but I don't need it," Siegfried replied.

"Nonsense! Everyone needs a little something once a while. You'll need your strength for our journey ahead of us."

"Alright…thank you, Ivy," Siegfried replied as he took the apple from her hand. Ivy smiled as she grabbed another apple and began to munch on it. Around that time, Lara and Cassandra made their way back to the camp. Siegfried looked at both girls with a seldom look. "Make sure to eat something," he said softly. "We have a long ways to go before we reach our destination."

"Understood," Cassandra replied with a slight smile on her face.

"Y-yeah…" Lara responded with a not so cheery attitude in her voice.

Even though it was quite rare, but Siegfried was worried about Lara now. Usually bad things never put a dent on her cheery outlook and her bubbly personality. However all throughout the morning and the rest of the day, Lara remained quiet and pensive. It seemed like the girl was off in her own little world while her body continued to walk aimlessly around. There wasn't much he could do at the moment, except try to watch out for her.

Eventually, the group reached the city of Rome. It took them approximately a week to reach the city. Lara's eye widen as she saw the city before her. Never did she ever see such an elusive city like this before. Shops and karts were open to sell produce, accessories, clothing, and other materials. The sounds of music, cheers, and giggling filled the air along with the smell of cakes, pies, meat, and beer. Lara walked in front of the group to catch an eye full of what the city had to offer. "Oh wow!" she let out. "This place is so beautiful!" Lara skipped over to the nearest cart and touched the lovely clothing. "If only I had the money…"

Never was Lara so self-conscious about her looks until she saw women around her age dressed in the finest of clothing. Younger women were walking down the market place dressed in silk clothing and smelled like lavender and other sweet flowers. Lara touched the area where her right might used to be and cringe slightly. _I guess no amount of clothing would make me look pretty, _she thought. _I guess some people were born beautiful and with big racks while others are unfortunate and can't even have a rack that goes behind her nose._ _Ugh! My life sucks!_

"Rome…its such a beautiful city," Ivy said. "This place is known as a merchant's paradise as well as fighter's paradise."

"What makes you say that?" Siegfried asked as he cocked one of his eyebrows at Ivy.

"Simple…the arena is the best place for fighters from all around the world to compete for money. We could get some valuable information here. People from around the world might know a thing or two about who we're looking for. We should head over to the arena and sign up as soon as possible."

"Sounds like a good idea," Siegfried replied. "Lara, Cassandra…let's go!"

And so the group made their way over to the arena's entrance. Warriors of all sorts were gathered around for the upcoming tournament. Siegfried approached the sign-up table. Sitting on the chair was a rather large man with rippling muscles. His dark red facial hair could only be compared to his fuzzy chest. He looked over at Siegfried and gawked at his sword. "Something you want?" the man asked.

"I'm here to sign up for the tournament," Siegfried replied.

"You? You want to fight? Hehe…do you know what you're getting yourself into, pretty boy? We are the toughest and strongest warriors alive! You best be ready for anything!" The scruffy man got up from his seat and pulled out a huge axe from underneath the table. He raised the axe above his head and slammed it down towards Siegfried. Siegfried dodged out of the way of the upcoming assault. The red haired man continued his assault, however Siegfried was much more nimble and dodged every blow the register had to offer.

The register gathered all his energy and swung the axe horizontally. With enough force, the blade could slice someone's limbs off with ease. Siegfried managed to dodge ax just in time. The blade barely missed his face by mere inches and sunk into a wooden pillar. The register tried to pry it off, however Siegfried placed the Requiem underneath the man's chin. "Move…and it will be the end of you," Siegfried said. "Now…will you kindly register me and my friends so we can compete in the tournament?"

"Bwa ha ha!" the register gaffed. "Alright, you win, boy! I see you're full of spirit. Fine! You are now going to be registered! Come along to the table and I'll sign you up!"

"Very well then," Siegfried sheath his weapon and walking alongside the register.

The register opened a large book and wrote in black ink. "What's your name and the name of your friends?" he asked.

"I'm Siegfried Schtauffen, this is Ivy Valentine, and Cassandra Alexander," Siegfried said as he pointed at his friends.

"H-hey! What about me?" Lara asked. "Aren't you going to register me too?"

"No Lara, I'm not going to do that for several reasons. One: you're in a weak condition. You're still injured from the last fight. Two: You are physically weak and you don't know much about fighting. Three: we need someone to watch over our belongings."

"That's not fair! I can so fight too, you know! Why do you always treat me like a weak child?"

"Because you keep acting like one. I'm doing this for your own good…not to anger you."

"Lara please," Cassandra said, "stay here and watch over our belongings. You can cheer for us from the crowd and once we're done, we'll buy new clothing and weapons."

"Not to mention…chocolate," Ivy said.

"Ch-chocolate?" Lara let out. "They sell chocolate here?"

"Yes they do…but only if you're a good girl and if we win, we'll buy a whole brick of chocolate for you."

"Alright!" Lara chirped as she jumped up and down. "I'll be good and cheer for you guys extra hard! Good luck!"

Siegfried sighed as he rolled his eyes. Some battles he could win, but others he can not, especially if it has something to do with Lara. Instead, he just walked away from the register and headed towards the waiting room. Inside, competitors of all sorts had gathered around. Ivy rolled her eyes as she and Cassandra became eye candy to most of the men that were hovering about. Before Siegfried could say anything, a loud yell caught the attention of not only him but every other competitor.

"Yeow!" shouted a young red haired man. "You're a crazy bastard, you know that?!" The young man looked at his well toned chest as he checked to see if the register's ax cut him. All that the ax managed to do was cut part of his green vest.

"Oh ho!" the register chuckled. "You are a fast one, but you'll need more than speed to handle me!" The register raised his ax over his head and slammed it down at the young man. The red haired man rolled out of the way.

"You're crazy! And why attack me? Couldn't you attack Talim?" The young man pointed at his female companion. She was a rather petite looking girl with two cute black braids. Her soft brown eyes only showed sweetness in them. Her white, green, and red suit mad her look like a young girl. She glared at her male companion.

"Yun-Seong!" Talim scowled. "You're the one who wanted to join this tournament. If you can't defeat this man and hide behind me, than you shouldn't compete at all."

"Eesh! Talim!" Yun-Seong complained. "A little help would be nice!"

"Heh! You two dare to defy me?" the register said. "Then you shall die!"

"Yun-Seong!" Talim let out as she jumped on the register. She landed on his back and began to attack him. At that time, Yun-Seong quickly got up from the ground and started to assist Talim. He attacked the register from the front. In one movement, the register shook off Talim and Yun-Seong. He stopped to look at the fallen warriors before he laughed whole heartedly.

"You two are alright!" he chuckled. "Alright…both of you can join the tournament!"

"We can?! Yahoo!" Yun-Seong cheered as he got up from the ground.

"I think…I'm getting a headache…" Talim replied. "I still don't like this idea, Yun-Seong. I mean, fighting for money? People shouldn't fight for any other reason then to defend."

"Well, think about it this way. When you get in the arena and someone is fighting you, just fight back to defend yourself and win! Think of the money as a bonus for living! Besides, we need the money to continue our journey."

"You mean your journey," Talim corrected him. "I'm here to make sure you don't do anything foolish."

"Yeesh, Talim! Don't you have any faith in me?"

"I don't doubt your fighting ability, I just doubt your intentions."

Yun-Seong and Talim continued arguing as they entered the competitor's lounge. Siegfried couldn't believe what type of competitors he was getting. If the opponents were just like Yun-Seong, he might as well sign up Lara as well.

Outside of the competitor's lounge and the register's area. Lara sat on the edge of the walkway. Her feet were now in the water of the river which held the arena. She sighed as she was now completely bored and felt somewhat lonely. "This is no fun," she whined. "I really wanted to fight in the tournament, but Siegfried won't let me! I can do it! I'm sure I can, I'm not completely useless!"

"Aww, don't say that about yourself!" a light, female voice spoke.

Lara turned her torso slightly so she could see the figure behind her. A young woman with curly chestnut colored hair and light green eyes smiled at Lara. Her bizarre green pants were held together by her leather boots. Her pink tube top didn't cover much of her upper torso as her blue jacket did. What captivated Lara about the young woman was the fact that a black mask covered her pale face.

"Hi!" the girl said. "My name is Risa! What's your name?"

"I'm Lara," Lara replied. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, me? I'm just walking around. I'm getting ready to fight in the tournament."

"You joined the tournament too? Man…I must be the only one who wasn't allowed to sign up."

"Heh," Risa giggled. "I wouldn't say that. My kids weren't allowed to sign up either."

"Your kids? You're a mother?"

"Oh! No, no, no! I'm not a mother…I just take care of kids. Orphans that live in this city and have nowhere else to go. I need the money in order to feed them and such. That's why I compete in the tournaments which are held every week."

"Wow! Every week?!" Lara's blue eyes widen. "How many have you won?"

"Well…I haven't won the championship…but I do get consolation money. It may not be much, but its enough to get through. To get consolation money, however, you need to be at a certain rank in the tournament. No less than fourth place."

"So…who's been winning?"

"No one yet…" Risa replied.

"No one yet?" Lara asked as she cocked one eye. "But why hasn't anyone won yet?"

"You see…the champion is too tough for anyone to beat. That's why."

"Oh…well, I'm sure the champion will lose to Siegfried! Siegfried has yet to lose at anything!"

"Well…I hope you're right. So…um, I was wondering…can I a favor of you?" Risa asked.

"What favor?"

"You see…I don't trust some of the people here. Mostly men and loose women come to these events. So I can't trust anyone to watch over the kids and they really wanted to see the fights here. I was wondering…think you can watch over them for me? I know I don't know you that much, but you actually look like someone I can trust you."

"Well…I suppose I can," Lara replied. "Alright…I'll help out."

"Great! Come on, kids!" Risa motioned with her hand. At that moment, ten little children approached Lara. There were some very young children who look like they barely learned how to walk. The eldest out of the group was only three years younger than Lara. Lara looked baffled at how many of them were with Risa. "Alright!" Risa spoke to the children. "I'm going off to wait in the fighter's lounge. You all be good to Lara, okay?"

"Okay! We promise!" the children replied. Risa smiled at them before she walked off to her destination. Lara looked at the kids as the kids looked at Lara. For a long time, that's all the group did. Each of them would blink at a different times while Lara kept a constant blinking pattern. The more Lara looked at the children, the more freaked out she would get. "Will you all stop staring at me?" Lara let out.

"We're bored!" whined a tiny pink haired girl. "I want to play!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" Lara replied. She looked at the water then at her clothing. Finally an idea formed. "You guys want to do something fun with me?"

"Yeah!" the children replied.

"Good! I have an excellent idea we can pull off! Now first we gotta…"

Elsewhere, Siegfried and the others were waiting patiently for the tournament to begin. Every competitor was given a number in which they were to keep in order from them to know when they will be fighting. Walking past Siegfried was a young and rather vibrant auburn haired woman who's attire was something a little risqué. Her maid uniform showed much of her well formed figure, which rivaled even Ivy's. Her blue colored eyes landed on Siegfried as she passed by. She winked at him. Siegfried blushed as he looked away from the woman. The red haired vixen merely giggled as she continued to walk down towards the arena.

Following the red haired woman was a young Asian woman. Her long black hair was tied together into two buns. Her light red, Chinese dress flowed nicely along with her body. Her bifocals were rather thick, but certain attractive. She smiled sweetly at Siegfried as she walked passed him. Siegfried's eyes wondered over at the young woman as she walked passed him.

Following the Asian woman was bubbly blond woman wearing a maid uniform which was similar to the red head's uniform, but was less revealing. Her soft teal eyes looked over at Siegfried. She giggled lightly as she gave off a slight blush on her face. She waved at him before she walked off following her comrades. Siegfried was baffled at why all three women insisted on getting his attention. Yun-Seong saw the entire thing and walked over to Siegfried.

"Wow, you're really popular with the ladies," he chided. "So…who are they? Your girlfriends?"

"I don't know who they are…" Siegfried replied.

"Oh…so they're women you laid with. Impressive! They're quite the catches."

"No! I have not laid with them! I don't know these women! I didn't know them until recently right now."

"Oh…so they're admiring you," Yun-Seong said in a dull tone. "Oh! Excellent! You already have three fan girls and you haven't fought yet."

"Why does it feel like you're not listening to me?" Siegfried asked, of course, not expecting an answer.

The three women entered the arena. As soon as they walked on the platform, the men started to cheer and whistle at them. The red haired woman stepped forwards and waved at the crowd. "Welcome," she said in a rather seductive tone. "Are all of you ready for the tournament?" As she finished the question, the crowd cheered a response. "Good! As you all know I, Valeria, have organized this tournament this week. For those that have returned, I thank you for coming back. For those new to the tournament, let us explain the rules to you all."

"I, Hualin, shall explain the rules!" The young Asian girl said. "The tournament is held here in the heart of the coliseum. Those that don't know you are competing for money, glory, and fans. We do have a few rules. You can not kill anyone in this tournament. Only hurt a competitor to a point where they can't fight. Next, no more than one person per fight. We don't approve of double teaming. Another rule is don't step into a fight that isn't yours. You cannot interfere, if not you are disqualified. Any weapons are allowed. Last rule: just have fun!"

"Hehe…I, Lynette, shall just say a few words," the blond girl spoke. "Go on and fight and may the best fighter win!" Upon finishing her sentence, the crowd cheered loudly. "Alright, I shall call out who is up for the first match. And its competitors 20 and 5. Competitors 20 and 5, may you step up to the arena?"

Siegfried looked at his number. "So…I guess I'm up then," he said softly. He was number twenty. He slowly walked over to the arena and walked on the small wooden walkway. His opponent was a rather large and overly muscular man. The hair on his head had diminished from head and it appeared that it reappeared on his chest. In his hand was a rather large mace. He looked at Siegfried and gaffed.

"Oh…you're a puny one!" the man said as he pointed at Siegfried. "This will be easy!"

Siegfried didn't bother to grace the man with an answer. He just merely looked away and tried to ignore him. At the sidelines, Lara giggled. She had sent Mr. Squeakers off from her clothing and commanded him to do his newest trick. The tiny chipmunk scurried through the floor, climbed on the nearest man's leg, and began to gnaw at his wallet. Once there was a hole, Mr. Squeakers stuffed some gold into its mouth and scurried back to Lara. Lara, opened her shirt and allowed her pet to come in. "Good boy," she said. "Hehe…that makes about five hundred gold now."

The pink haired girl, whose name was Momo, walked over to a couple. She looked at them with puppy dog eyes. She shifted her legs slightly as she tried to look at adorable as she could. "Please Mister and Misses," Momo said softly. "I'm just a poor, hungrygirl and all. I…I don't know where my mommy is because she left me here and I haven't seen her in years. So far I've been only eating what I can find. Won't you help me, please?"

The woman looked at Momo and couldn't help but squeal as she saw the adorable little girl. "Oh, you poor thing!" she let out. "You've got to give her some gold, Daniel!"

"But…I…" Daniel said as he tried to think up of an excuse why not to give Momo money. At the end, the couple gave Momo fifty gold. Momo smiled softly at them then walked towards Lara.

"Here's the money, Lara," Momo said as she handed her the gold.

"You did an excellent job!" Lara giggled. "You know, you're quite good at this. Thanks to you I have almost two thousand gold. That's with the money combined with everyone else's and my work. But you've been bringing a good amount of income. If I had a chance, I'd make you my apprentice!"

"Yay!"

Out in the crowd, the other little children were scamming off money from the spectators. All of them were using different tactics in order to earn some gold. They all brought back every piece of it to Lara, who was training Mr. Squeakers to steal money from wallets and coin purses. However once the announcement of the tournament began, Lara turned her attention to the arena. She smiled widely as she saw Siegfried approaching the ring. "Whoot! Go Siegfried!" Lara shouted.

_Meep! I hope this was an okay chapter. So sorry for not updating and I apologize for those who have been waiting for the next chapter. _


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